Suckerpunch
by Tarantulove
Summary: Takes place in first season. Todd meets a young lady faced with great inner turmoil. When she joins the brotherhood, he becomes part of them.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Hello. I feel it would be rude to jump into a disclaimer without proper greeting. I do not own x-men evolution or any of the charecters in this story except Simone Samson. Neither do I own "haleys song", by Eminem. The only thing I own is this fanfictions plot. Sorry if Simone is a rip off of spider-man. I did not mean it to be that way so none of her powers are shared with that of Spiderman except wall climbing, and Simone does that in a different manner than spider-man. Spiderman has little hairs that stick to stuff, but Simone had A gooey palm secretion that sticks to stuff, but its not webbing in any way. Oops, I am gibber jabbering. Sorry. ^^;;;  
  
Authors note: This is a story about Todd because I like Todd. The prologue may be hard to understand, but it will all come together later on in the story. Like an issue of dragon knights, its complicated, but all the loose strings are tied eventually. I know because I already wrote the epilogue. I really hope you enjoy this fic. Any opinions or flames are welcome. Just do not flame because you dislike Todd, because God help you if you dislike Todd and are reading this story. Sorry people, I am going to leave this one clean. The worst it will get is some minor cussing, some kissing, and some strange non-sense expressions from Simone. Forgive me please, if Simone is a Mary Jane. I guess in a way she is, but the first step in getting help in admitting that. If you have any questions or opinions or even flames (free speech rocks), e-mail me at BeshimiBoo@aol.com. Thank you and enjoy. Get a sandwich, it's a long one.  
  
Prologue:  
You never expect the day that your life changes forever. Every day begins with plans or expectations, but how can we plan for what hasn't happened yet? We can't. We can only make preparations to guide what our minds tell us are the probabilities of what will happen. However, sometimes things happen that are unexpected. Todd never expected the things soon to come. But Simone always did. Simone always saw it coming  
  
All her life, Simone always knew that she'd someday fight a battle she couldn't win. And she had come here to fight it now. But the battle was not yet ready to be fought, and Simone was fine with that. She didn't want to be around during the battle. That's why she would fight her part now. She couldn't change the outcome of the battle, or the fact that it even had to be fought. But she could change the location of the battlefield.  
  
Todd's mind. It would be easier on Simone. She would leave her memory in his mind to fight this battle. It was over him after all. His mind would be the true battlefield anyway. But it might rip him apart. She didn't yet know how to deal with that part. She wouldn't worry about it now. That part wasn't happening now. She knew that this battle might kill her just as well. She had a feeling it would be her last battle. But that was fine with Simone.  
  
She knew very well her purpose here now. It was to get him through, to keep him alive. She didn't even know him, but she was the kind of person to love strangers, to help strangers. She was a missionary, an eternal walker whose purpose was for nothing more than to be a light. Now she was his light. She was there to get him through, and even if this mission killed her, that's what she planned to do.  
  
Chapter one:Woe  
  
It was last period world history. Not much exciting happening today. Little was ever exciting during school. Everyone thought he was stupid when he wasn't, so the classes he had challenged his mind very little. He got bored. Most of the time he just doodled in his notebook, or tried to write something, like a story. But the words never left the pencil the right way or in the right order. I don't read enough, he thought.  
  
**Maybe if I read more I'd be a better writer, but who has time for reading when your busy being a punching bag. Other than that, I got no social life. It's a surprise I don't have more time on my hands for that kind of stuff. But it's always so loud at home...home, puh. It's always so loud there. Always yelling or fighting or somethin'. You can never concentrate there. Either that or its quiet, deaf quiet . Scary quiet, too quiet to do anything that involves making more quietness, like reading. Maybe the sound of ruffling pages would make it bearable.**  
  
Home was, at times, worse than school. Although school was boring, it was bearable. He didn't get beat up on as much at school. Most days he couldn't wait to get out of school, but he wasn't all too excited about getting back there either.  
  
The teacher introduced a new girl briefly and began the lesson. World War 1. Todd didn't give the new girl a second glance, he barely gave her a first glance. He was afraid to look at her. If she was average and nothing special then it would mean that today was another boring day, just like every other day. He was sometimes afraid that he was stuck in a rift where everything repeated and nothing new ever came. It scared him to death to think that nothing might ever happen to break the cycle. It made him antsy on the outside, but it drove him crazy under the surface.  
  
But if she was beautiful, he would again have to feel the pang of knowing that she had to have a boyfriend, and even if she didn't, no one wants to get with Toad. He'd felt that pang a million times before. **You'd think I'd be used to it by now. I must be weak if I don't even callous.** He would rather just not have to look at her at all. He wondered if she knew how much anxiety she was causing him, just by being there. **It's not her fault. She doesn't owe me anything. I hate people who think the world owes them even when they don't pay their debts to the world. I'm becoming that kind of person. Yo I gotta stop that before it consumes my mind.**  
  
He thought the teacher had said that her name was Simone Samson or something like that, weird. **First and last name begin with an s and m is the third letter in each. Yo, I must be going crazy. No normal person analyzes stuff like that, or would even notice that.**  
  
He decided to look at her. What harm could it do, it wasn't like he wasn't fricked up inside already. He glanced back at her, she was sitting in the corner seat in the back, two rows behind and two to the left of Todd. She was beautiful, dammit. She had a classic beauty, a natural beauty. Her copper brown hair was long and clearly natural. The strands that fell over her eyes were kinda sexy. She didn't wear any makeup or anything. She just had natural dark lips, pouty too, like a model. He turned back toward the front of the class before she could catch him looking at her. He hadn't seen her eyes. She was looking down at her notebook, writing something. The teacher wasn't giving notes. Maybe she was a poet, a writer, or an artist.  
  
From what he saw of her eyes, she had long dark lashes. He glanced back one more time, then turned forward again. Snap, she was pale! Like paper. And she was wearing all black. A tee shirt with some smart-ass comment on it and overly baggy black pants. They had chains on them. Aside from her hair and lips she looked like a black-and-white photo, oh, and a black leather choker with a purple cross dangling from it. **What a weird girl. She looked like she'd be the perfect girl for me, but I'm sure she's already some other guy's perfect girl. Not like I deserve her anyway, or anyone for that matter. I'm just a bad guy, just a villain, just Toad, but I bet I could make her happy...if I tried real hard.. **  
  
He had trouble concentrating for the rest of class. Not that that was unusual, but it was for a different reason than usual. He had sort of given up on girlfriends, not that he'd ever had any. He tried not to think about love, romance, or any of that crap, because it wasn't for everybody. Something that's discriminate to people like him was something that he didn't want to be involved in. Maybe she had the same problem. She seemed to carry a deep aura of sadness around her. **I wonder what her story is.** He was probably just thinking too much, making things that weren't there. She was too beautiful to have had any heartbreak in her life, but in a way, she looked too beautiful to have not had any. He wondered how she was a freshmen, she looked older, like a sophomore or a junior. She looked too smart to have failed. **First impressions are usually wrong. I bet she's mean, stupid, and obnoxious and....and...**He sort of faded out of that thought when he realized that class was almost over.  
  
When the bell rang, he slowly gathered up his books and started making his way for the door. He noticed that she had gone up to the teacher's desk and was talking to him. He couldn't hear what she was saying. She spoke so quietly.  
  
"Todd". It was the teacher. Todd stopped at the doorway and looked back towards the teacher's desk. That Simone girl had turned toward Todd a little, looking at him silently. Her eyes were gray, they looked like the ocean.  
  
"Yeah Mr.Haley?"  
  
"Come here a minute".  
  
He walked over towards the teachers desk and stood next to Simone, but not too close. A safe distance of a few feet away. **As if rejection can't reach this far.** She was looking at a wooden apple on the teacher's desk. She seemed to be putting up an effort when it came to looking the teacher in the eye. She glanced at Todd a little through the strands of hair that fell on her face. They were bangs that were being grown out. They went past her ears in length. **She's either shy or scared out her mind.**  
  
"Todd", the teacher began, "I'm assuming you'll be at school tomorrow, right".  
  
"Um, yeah...why wouldn't I be".  
  
"Just asking", he paused and cleared his throat. "Todd, this is Simone Samson. Simone, Todd Toanski".  
  
"Yo", Todd said.  
  
"Hi", her voice was very, very small and meek. She smiled at him. Not just a smile of obligated greeting, but she genuinely smiled, at Todd. It was a warm smile, a kind smile, as if she found favor in him. It wasn't the kind of smile he received every day.  
  
"Ms.Samson was just showing me her schedule. It seems that you two have all the same classes together. Tomorrow is Simones first full day here. Today would've been, but she came in late. Worried sick about her first day", Mr.Haley laughed.  
  
Todd noticed the tiniest little tinge of pink come to her cheeks. **I guess that'd be a blush.**  
  
"Todd, I think it would be a good experience for you both if you would be so kind as to show her around her first day here. It is a big school and we wouldn't want Ms.Samson getting lost."  
  
"Mr.Haley", the girl spoke up. Her voice was so small and timid, like a whisper, but not so deep. "If it's a problem, I'm sure I'll be able to find my way around myself. I wouldn't want to be of any trouble, really".  
  
"Oh, nonsense!" said the teacher cheerfully, "I'm sure it'll be no trouble at all! Will it Todd?"  
  
**Of course it won't. She's beautiful. The hard part will be trying to make conversation, trying to impress her. I'm not really up to it. That and hearing about her boyfriend, and watching her leave with her boyfriend, and knowing that there's not much hope of her getting with me even if she is single.**  
  
"No, Mr.Haley. It won't be a problem." He noticed the girl smile a little. It was strange though. There was something about her face. Expressions didn't play themselves out well on her face. Before and after that little smile, her face returned to an expressionless state. Although her face was beautiful, it seemed as if she was comfortable looking neutral.  
  
"Good", Mr.Haley smiled. "You two will meet fifteen minutes before the first bell rings on the steps by the main entrance. You're free to go, goodnight".  
  
Both of them turned and began walking towards the door at the same time. She walked faster and exited first. Todd began making his way down the halls to his locker, which was near his homeroom class. After leaving Mr.Haleys classroom, the strange girl walked slower. Now she was following far behind Todd. She followed him down the hall, and up the stairs and down another hall. The halls had cleared out now and there was the occasional dawdler here and there. It was barren for the most part.  
  
**I wonder why she's followin' me. Wait, we have all the same classes. That means we probably have the same homeroom too. If we have the same homeroom, our lockers are probably close together. Maybe I should say sum'n' to her. Sum'n nice. Naw, not yet. Tomorrow. We'll talk tomorrow.**  
  
His locker was the third one to the left of his homeroom door. Hers was the seventh. That locker used to be Jimmy Darlon's. Then Jimmy transferred towards the beginning of the second quarter when his dad's business went under. They had to move to a poorer neighborhood. That locker had been vacant ever since.  
  
Todd put away the books he didn't need for homework that night, including some that he did need but just didn't feel like using. No wonder his grades weren't above average. Simone pulled something out of her locker. It was a backpack. It was a bright purple, vinyl backpack. She slid her history book into it and all the notebooks she had been carrying. She zipped it up and shut the locker door, giving the combination lock an extra spin for security. Todd did the same and started walking down the hall in the direction of the staircase. **Lance, Pietro, and Freddie are waiting for me. I bet they left without me. I'll probably have to walk home. They never wait for me. I hate it when they strand me here. **  
  
Suddenly he felt a tiny poke on his left shoulder. It was so gentle that he wouldn't barely noticed it at first. He looked to his left. It was Simone. She had poked him with her index finger.  
  
"Um, do you know what the history assignment was for tonight?" she asked quietly.  
  
"Uh, yeah. Page 224, I think. Questions one through five".  
  
"Thank you". Her walking then slowed so she was soon far behind him again. He could tell that she was shy. It was when she had asked him the assignment that he noticed something. It wasn't neutrality in her eyes and expression. It was sadness. She seemed to have a sad way about her. But it was as if it had been there awhile, and she was used to it. That's why it was so easy to mistake it. ** I wonder why she seems so sad. I wonder if she's sad for anyone in particular. I bet she's really pretty when she's happy and laughin'.**  
  
When he got outside, he looked around for the jeep. It wasn't there. He wasn't surprised. He started walking. **Good thing I got these legs, or else I'd get tired walking home. I'd get there faster if I jumped, but I'd get in big trouble too. People don't like mutants.**  
  
He lost sight of Simone. She went down a different street than he did. When he left the school, he went straight. When she left, she went right. She walked too. **I wonder if her parents are workin'.**  
  
It was a long walk home, about a mile. That's why he hated it when they left without him. The walking didn't tire him. It was the occasional bully he met up with along the way, or the shouts that classmates gave him from their car windows. If it was a bully, he was usually able to hold his own. He was a mutant after all, and not too weak. What really bothered him, were the shouts of his classmates. Most were from girls, pretty, popular, cheerleader girls. They could be meaner than the boys. He didn't care to recall the things they often said. They only made him angry inside, but he always acted as if it didn't bother him. He pretended not to care. But he did care. It hurt sometimes. He always remembered a song that reminded him of it, and he played it, over, and over in his head.  
  
People make jokes,  
Cuz' they don't understand me.  
They just don't see my real side.  
  
I act like shit don't faze me.  
Inside it drives me crazy.  
My insecurities could eat me alive.  
  
He wondered if Simone ever got shouts from car windows. She was beautiful, but strange. She dressed strange. She dressed really gothic with long, thick, pointy spikes on her bracelets. He wore the occasional stud too, but they paled in comparison to hers. Hers were heavy duty. **Maybe she'll look different tomorrow. Not that she looks bad like that anyway.**  
  
It took him about fifteen minutes to get home. When he walked in the door, Lance was sitting at the kitchen table, eating. As was Freddie. **Big surprise.** Pietro was sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, doing homework. Todd went into his room and closed the door. He threw his backpack on the ground and sat down on his bed.  
  
"I can't believe this", he said aloud. "They don't even wait for me, then when I finally get home, they don't even care where I been. They just don't care. Not so much as a 'hi Todd, where were ya'. Even a 'Todd! What are you doin' back late!' would be fine. That's it". He got up and walked out into the living room.  
  
"Why don't you guys ever wait for me after school?" he inquired of Pietro angrily. Pietro just gave him an irritated glance, then went back to his homework.  
  
"If you don't want to walk home", Pietro said, "then get to the car on time".  
  
"I can't believe you guys", Todd retaliated. "I coulda been attacked my those frickin' X-men and killed! You wouldn't have even known, and I bet you wouldn't have cared either!" Pietro glared at him.  
  
"Toad, I'm really not in the mood".  
  
"Yeah? Well, maybe I wasn't in the mood to walk home today. Did you ever think of that?" Lance and Freddie were staring at him from the kitchen with big eyes. Pietro stood up and calmly walked over to Todd. He stopped a few inches away. His face was expressionless. Abruptly, he raised his right hand. In one quick and perfectly aimed strike, he slapped Todd across the face. Todd's left hand went to his cheek. It stung like a whiplash. He turned around quietly and walked back to his room, slamming the door behind him.  
  
"Pietro, man", he barely overheard Lance say, "you didn't have to hit him like that".  
  
" He needs to know his place", was Pietro's answer.  
  
**I need to know my place. Like hell I need to know my place**. He sat down on his bed, his hand still over his throbbing cheek. **Shit, he hits hard. And what is my "place" anyway? Is it just to be their henchmen? Is it just to be their little bitch that they can slap around whenever they feel like it? I'm seriously getting sick of this, Yo. But I ain't got no place else to go. Professor Baldy won't take me. Not after I been in the brotherhood this long. I ain't got no other home. I'm stuck here. I guess I ain't goin' no where.**  
  
The pain in his cheek from being slapped slowly began to fade. But the pain in his mind didn't go away all night. He finished his homework. It was the only thing he could do to stop thinking about it. At around seven, he heard a knock on his door.  
  
"Who is it?" He didn't want to talk to Pietro right now. If that's who it was, he wasn't letting him in. The door opened a little, and Lance peeked in.  
  
"Its me, can I come in?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess".  
  
Lance walked in and closed the door behind him. He sat down on the bed, next to Todd.  
  
"So, how come you got out of the school so late?" Lance asked. He sort of knew why Todd had gotten so miffed earlier, and he was trying to make up for it. Todd could tell. But he knew they didn't really care. He knew that they just didn't want him leaving the group. Not that they cared about loosing their friend. They just didn't want to loose a fighter. That was all.  
  
"It's like this Yo," He began to explain. "There's this new girl at school and." He was interrupted when Lance smiled and spoke.  
  
"Oh, I see, you got a girlfriend! Good goin' Toad! "  
  
"Uh, no that ain't it. It's like this. Today after last period, the teacher calls us both up to his desk and says that we both have the exact same schedule. So, he wants me to show her around tomorrow, cuz' she only showed up for last period today. I got out late cuz' of that. And I have to be at the school fifteen minutes before the bell rings tomorrow to meet her".  
  
"Oh", Lance simply said. "Is she hot?"  
  
"Hot? She ain't just hot. She's beautiful", **shit, I shouldn't have said that. He'll tell Freddie and Pietro, and if they meet Simone, they'll tell her I said that. Snap!**  
  
"What's her name?"  
  
"Simone Samson".  
  
"Huh, kinda funny name".  
  
There was silence for a few moments. Todd said nothing and Lance said nothing. Lance sighed.  
  
"Hey Toad, me and the guys have been kinda worried lately".  
  
"About what?" **Oh no. I hope he's not talking about me. Yeah, I'll admit I been actin' funny lately. I been feeling funny lately too. Actually, I wouldn't call it funny, cuz I'm not laughing. **  
  
"About you. You've been acting..different. You've been talking less and acting out more like earlier when you got back. You haven't been acting like yourself. Are you." He was interrupted by Todd yelling.  
  
"Hey, what happened earlier wasn't my fault Yo! You guys are the ones always leaving me at the school if I'm not out right on time! Do you have any idea what.." He sighed and his voice returned to normal. "Nevermind, it don't matter. Its not like you guys care anyway".  
  
Lance stood up and looked down at Todd with furious eyes.  
  
"That's why Pietro slapped you! Because of stupid talk like that! It really pisses me off that you seem to think we're not better friends than that! That's an insult. I'm getting sick of it". He started walking towards the door.  
  
"Well", Todd said so quietly it was nearly a whisper. "You don't act like better friends than that".  
  
Lance just kept walking. He huffed then exited the room, slamming the door behind him. Then Todd was alone. He just sat there for awhile, thinking.  
  
**Maybe it was wrong for me to act like that. He was only trying to help. But I'm sure he didn't really want to. He probably just drew the short straw. After all, they can't let a team mate go. They lose enough fights with the x-men anyway. That's the only reason they care. I don't know why. I'm not even that great a fighter anyway. **  
  
A short while later, he took a shower and brushed his teeth. He knew that it was improbable that he'd get in good with Simone, no matter what he did. However, it's a natural human instinct to try, and he was human, for the most part. After his shower, he wore his usual sleepwear, a pair of boxers. They were dark green and had a print of frogs sitting on lily pads on them. He had always had found them ironic. That's probably why he bought them in the first place. They had come in a pack with three other pairs. The others all had the same print, but the background colors varied. One pair was white; one was blue, and the other black.  
  
He got into bed, relatively early. Usually he stayed up late, even on school nights. But he wanted to forget most of the events of today. He wanted to be in a state where he was unthinking, unfeeling. He didn't want to feel screwed up anymore today. He pulled his flimsy blanket up over his head. The bed creaked at the movement.  
  
**Today wasn't all bad. I got to meet that Simone chick. But I guess even that was bad, cuz I know she'll probably hate me when she gets to know me. But I can't forget that look in her eyes. That funny way she smiled at me.like she approved of me or somethin'. Weird. But if we ever got close, which won't happen, she'd eventually have to find out. If she hung around me enough, it'd be obvious. She's figure it out herself, that I'm a mutant. Huh, talk about not being like other guys. **  
  
His still slightly wet hair made his pillow moist. He hated that feeling. The minute he noticed it, he heard the sound of raindrops hitting his half busted window.  
  
**Oh great. Now its gonna freeze in here, if it didn't already. And all I got is this crummy sheet from Mystique. I swear, she treats us like animals. The roof leaks, the stove doesn't work half the time. And she gets the biggest room. Were the ones doin' all the work. This is some shit. Heh, imagine introducing Simone to Mystique. That'd be hanous.**  
  
Soon rational thoughts began to fade. He found himself envisioning strange images that didn't make sense, like picture riddles. Sleep soon followed. He dreamt about Simone. In the dream, she was at the brotherhood house. She was sitting on the couch talking to Pietro and Lance while Freddie was making something in the kitchen. She was talking about how wonderful their house was. Todd wondered why. Then the x-men showed up. For some reason, they were being incredibly friendly. He had had dreams like that many times. It only felt like he had been in the dream for a few moments, when he heard a knock on his door and realized by the pale light entering his room from his window, that it was morning.  
  
"Hey! Get up or your gonna be late for school! Didn't you say something about being there early!?" It was Lance.  
  
Todd jumped out of bed and quickly got ready for school, probably for the first time in his life.  
  
End of chapter one. Authors note: Dear readers,  
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I really hope you enjoyed the deep details about Todd's boxers. ^^ I told you it was long. I hope you grabbed that sandwich. What kind of sandwich was it? Was it good? I hope so. Did you make it yourself, or did you get help from a parent? Remember, never use a knife without parental supervision. You might chop your arm off. Even if you have no opinion about the story, review anyway to answer my questions about your sandwich. I hope you liked my story as much as you liked your sandwich. That's why I'm hoping you really liked your sandwich. Actually, it makes little difference to me whether you liked my story or not, because I liked writing it and that's all that matters. No offense to you. Hope you like chapter two. It should be up in a few days. These things are long, so they take awhile to write. Sorry, I'm going on too much. You've probably stopped reading this by now. Oh well. Your all made of sand anyway. 


	2. ChapterII

Disclaimer: The name of this fanfiction was first the name of a song called "suckerpunch" by the band Five Iron Frenzy. I do not own the song and I do not own the band. The names of all the chapters are also names of songs on Tom Waits new album, "Blood Money". I do not own Tom Waits and I do not own any of the songs or song titles on the album. This fi contains certain characters that appear on x-men evolution, including places, etc. I own none of them except for Simone Samson.  
  
Authors note: Well, I hope you liked the last chapter. Sorry it takes so long to post chapter two. These are long chapters and I am trying to make them the best they can be. As many of you know, a good story does not write itself overnight. It takes a lot of time and a lot of hard work. Therefore, here we go. Enjoy. Get yourself another sandwich, its another long one.  
  
Chapter Two: Misery is the river or the world  
  
There was no way Pietro or Lance or Freddie were going to cut their morning short just to get Todd to school early. He would have to walk, or run, more or less. Running was not something he was accustomed to. When he had to get somewhere in a hurry, he usually hopped. He had better judgement than that though. Todd already got funny looks from the kids at school. He could not imagine how they would look at him if they saw him leaping down the road towards the school. He clumsily and carelessly threw his backpack over his shoulders. He didn't even bother to close the door behind him when he speed out. It was when he reached the sidewalk that he realized something.  
  
**Hey, if I'm fifteen minutes early yo, then I'm ahead of all the other people who walk. There's no one around to see me yet.** His legs bent slightly then he sprung into the air, up and forward.  
  
His hands didn't even hurt anymore when he used them to land after each jump. They used to sting when they hit hard pavement or rock. Hot sand wasn't much fun either. By now he was starting to develop calluses on his palms and fingers, like the kind a guitar player gets on their fingertips. They weren't very prominent or hard yet, which was good. He knew that if they became noticeable, people would ask about them. It'd be another reason for people to call him a freak show. Sometimes people called him a mutant, which was ironic. It almost made him laugh when they said it. They really didn't have a clue, and if they did, they wouldn't understand. He hated them sometimes, non-mutants. They were so insensitive, so afraid of what they didn't understand. He wasn't sure whether to hate them or feel sorry for them, because they didn't have to be that way.  
  
Each leap covered about five feet. He was making good time. He stopped and straightened up when he was able to see the school. It was secluded. Except Simone.  
  
She was standing at the top of the front stairs, leaning up against the brick wall next to the big metal doors. Her vibrant, purple bookbag slumped on the ground next to her and her hands were in the roomy pockets of a pair of overly baggy black pants. Her hair was the same as yesterday, but he really noticed it now. It was light brown, almost copper, and reached her waist. It had a neat part in the middle and was straight, no waves or curls. A simplistic beauty.  
  
She had been looking at the road that Todd was now walking down. When he stopped and started walking, her gray eyes darted to observe the stone steps a few feet in front of her. He noticed this. It was like she had seen him hopping, but she didn't want him knowing she had seen. She had done the thing one often does when they are admiring a crush and the crush catches them. Although one knows they've been seen, they still try to make it look like they weren't spying, all in vain. Now, she was smiling. Not at the stone steps that she was looking at, but at some new discovered though, it seemed.  
  
**I hope she didn't see me jumping, Todd thought. If she did, she'd be staring at me funny or something, yo. She probably didn't. I don't wanna worry about it.**  
  
He walked at a reasonable pace towards the main steps. He tried not to look at her while he approached. Women were funny. He knew that if he looked at her, she'd take it as him checking her out. If he smiled at her, she'd think he was gonna make a move. If he looked unfriendly, she'd think he didn't like her, and that wasn't entirely true yet. He'd decide whether he liked her or not after today, after he talked to her a little bit.  
  
He climbed the stairs easily and once at the top he muttered a meek "Yo".  
  
"Hey", she replied quietly.  
  
He dropped his bookbag on the ground next to hers and leaned against the door next to her, a foot or two away.  
  
"I, I hope", she began in a small voice, "That it isn't a problem for you, I mean showing me around today".  
  
"Naw, its no problem yo", he replied, attempting to be nonchalant.  
  
"So, where you from?" he asked. He noticed her trying to make eye contact with him. She seemed so shy and introverted, very reserved.  
  
"I'm from Phoenix. My parents sent me here about a week ago".  
  
He had expected her to say what school she went to before now. He was a little shocked at her reply.  
  
"When are they coming here?"  
  
"They're not".  
  
"Wait, so who do you live with?" He hoped the question wasn't too stalker-like. It sort of escaped his lips before he could really process it. Why would her parents have sent her here alone?  
  
"My pet tarantula, Midori".  
  
"I mean, like, do you stay with an aunt or a brother or sister or something?"  
  
"No. I live in an apartment down that way"; she stretched out her right arm and pointed to a road going in that direction. "My parents send me money to pay the rent".  
  
He had never met someone so honest. Anyone else in her place would probably make something up; like that, they lived with a big sister or something. However, this could be a lie too. She sure sounded like she was telling the truth though.  
  
"Why did they send you here?" He hoped he wasn't prying too much, which was why he was actually a little relieved when he heard another voice coming towards them.  
  
"Excuse me miss, are you Simone Samson?" it asked politely. Todd looked in the voices direction. He cringed a little when he saw who it was. Scott Summers and Jean Grey were now standing in front of them. Scott had asked the question. Todd must not have noticed them coming up the stone stairs.  
  
"Y-yes", replied Simone nervously.  
  
"Hey", Todd interrupted in a hostile tone, "Back off Shades"  
  
Scott looked at Todd and frowned, "Tolenski, this doesn't involve you. Please stay out of it".  
  
"Um, sir", Simone peeped, "Todd is my friend. Please don't speak to him like that. It isn't right to reply to harsh words using harsh words. It won't get you anywhere".  
  
Scott didn't see what he had done wrong, but it would be best to let that one slide.  
  
"Your right, I'm sorry", him and Jean both focused on Simone. Simone felt little sweat beads forming on the back of her neck. She didn't like being the center of attention. Todd folded his arms and huffed a little.  
  
"Whatever yo", he mumbled.  
  
"Miss Samson", Jean said very politely, "We would like to talk to you about something very important. We know a man named Professor Xavier and we're here representing him. He is the owner and founder of an institute called the Xavier institute. Its a special institute for gifted young people, like yourself".  
  
Todd's eyes widened. The professor wanted Simone!? If the professor wanted her, it could only mean one thing. She must be a mutant. That explained why she didn't overreact when she caught him hopping towards the school earlier.  
  
"Hey, slow down yo", he interrupted. He turned towards them and smiled slyly at Scott and Jean.  
  
"Professor X can't have her", Todd stated, "Cuz she's with the Brotherhood".  
  
Scott and Jean looked shocked, then Jean looked angry.  
  
"He's lying", Jean said with slight irritation. Todd had forgotten that she could read minds.  
  
Scott turned to Simone, "Simone, is Todd telling the truth?"  
  
Simone had a look of sheer and utter confusion in her big gray eyes. She glanced at Todd, then at Jean, then back at Scott.  
  
"Yes", she said so quietly that she was almost unheard, "I'm with the Brotherhood". Jean frowned and contacted the professor in her mind.  
  
**Professor, she's lying too, but why? Why would she lie about being in the Brotherhood. She must not know what a bad group they are.**  
  
**She knows, the professor promptly replied. Let her be. She has a good reason for this lie and a good purpose behind her actions. Leave her alone for now. Good job on your efforts.** The connection ended.  
  
"Scott", Jean said with a thoughtful expression in her eyes, "lets go. She knows what she's doing". Scott sighed and both of them walked away towards a different entrance.  
  
Todd stared at Simone, although he could tell she couldn't stand it.  
  
"Is that why your parents sent you away; cuz you're a mutant?" he asked quietly.  
  
"Well", the obnoxious ringing of the first bell interrupted Simones answer. By now, students had begun to congregate around the school entrances. The minute the doors automatically unlocked, Todd grabbed Simones wrist and pulled her inside, before the crowds could stampede its way into the school.  
  
"Come on", he said to her as he half dragged her through the halls. "There's not much time before class starts and we have to get to our lockers and to first period class before the bell rings again. There's only five minutes between classes", he explained. Simone followed along willingly.  
  
Todd went through this routine every day. It was a struggle getting to class in time when you were working against a mob of bigger kids. Sometimes he didn't make it. Today he just didn't want Simone being late for classes on her first day. He didn't want their teachers thinking she was a bad kid, like they thought he was. **Hey, why do I even care yo? Oh well, I guess there ain't anything wrong with doing something nice for somebody else every once in awhile. They say it makes you feel good about yourself. God knows that'd come in handy.**  
  
When they got to the hallway, their lockers were in, they parted; Todd for his locker, and Simone for hers. For a few moments while they were shoving books into compartments, and throwing folders onto shelves, they lost sight of each other. Todd got finished at his locker first. He made the quick few steps to where Simone was. She was kneeling on the floor in front of her open locker. She carefully slid the last book into her purple bag and zipped it briskly. She threw the bookbag over her shoulders neatly as she stood and faced Todd.  
  
"Which way?" she asked quietly. For a minute, Todd didn't know what she meant.  
  
"What? Oh.yeah, which way to class. Um, this way". He started walking and she followed obediently, kind of like a little puppy. He had had a puppy once, when he was much younger, but he preferred not to think about its gruesome death at the hands of**...Yo, I gotta forget about that. That was a long time ago that that happened to Turbo. And I guess my mom got what was coming to her for it. **  
  
Todd lead her down hallways and staircases for what felt like only a few seconds until he lead her into a classroom, they're first period, ninth grade English classroom. The classroom had a practical look about it, with a shelf in the back that held about thirty or more dictionary's and two sets of encyclopedia's. The teachers desk was in the front of the room, but it was vacant for now. The desks were arranged in rows facing the big desk. An aerial view would show four rows going horizontally, with seven desks in each row, there being twenty eight desks in all.  
  
Todd's desk was in the back row, third from the end. There was only one vacant desk left and it was in the third row, third from the end, right in front of Todd.  
  
"Come on", he said. He walked to his desk, staying on the outside of the maze of desks that he would've had to weave through if he were stupid enough to not go around. She followed and when he reached his desk, he pointed to the empty one in front of it.  
"That's the only one left".  
  
"Ok", she answered.  
  
The minute they sat down the bell rang. Most of the students had arrived by now, but Todd smirked when he saw a small group of kids rush in at the last minute. He usually was with that group. **Wow, I'm not late for once. This chick must be good luck**  
  
The teacher walked in. The teacher was a large woman with short black hair and big thick rimmed glasses. Her skin was dark and blemished with age and she wore an obviously fake string of pearls around her neck and a dull looking green dress with big shoulder pads. Over the dress, she wore a black, knitted vest with a smiling kitten on it. Simone smiled at the vest. She thought the kitten was cute. The teacher stood in front of her desk and faced the classroom. She looked at Simone and smiled, showing a set of perfectly white teeth.  
  
"Hello Simone, I'm Mrs.Culler", the teacher said to her, as if the rest of the class wasn't there. Simone shrank into her chair a little when most of the other kids in the room turned their attention towards her.  
  
"Hello", she almost lip synced rather than actually said. Todd was slouching in his seat behind her. He saw how uncomfortable she looked. In a way, it made him angry that kids were so fascinated with her when all she seemed to want was to be left alone. It was like they'd never seen a new kid before, or a gothic person.  
  
A kid a few seats away made a fake cough and muttered the word "freak" in the middle of it. The other kids laughed. Todd wished he could see her reaction. He wondered if she'd be offended. In a way, he felt a little happy. Now, they were both "freaks", according to their classmates. Now they could identify with each other, but he was mad at whoever had said that.  
  
If he had been able to see her, he would have seen a perfectly calm look in her eyes. She had ignored the label well, as if she hadn't even heard it. A couple of the kids around her wondered if she was deaf.  
  
Mrs.Culler told the class to get out their homework assignments and pass them up. Simone didn't have one, obviously, but she would be excused for it because this was her first day here. Todd rummaged through his English folder and pulled out a piece of paper. It was in terrible condition. The handwriting was barely legible and the paper itself had big stains on it from water. He had left it on the kitchen table overnight one evening and the roof leaked on it. He was terribly embarrassed that Simone would have to see it. What would she think of him now? Oh well, she probably wasn't a big fan of English anyway. He handed her his paper and she handed it to the person in front of her and so on and so forth.  
  
The teacher told the class to take notes. Simone pulled a notebook out of her vinyl purple book bag and set it on her desk. She pulled out a pencil. Todd did the same things. He usually didn't even take notes. He usually didn't care, but for some reason, he didn't want to look like a hopeless juvenile today, not in front of her. But, it would seem, he already did.  
  
He noticed Simone carefully pulling a written on sheet of paper from her notebook. It seemed that she was trying to be as quiet as possible. He watched her fold it in a complicated pattern until it was a tiny square. As soon as the teachers back was turned, the little square of paper was on his desk. Simone had not even looked behind her when she flexed her arm to set the note, neatly, on the top right hand corner of Todd's desk.  
  
He unfolded it discretely, so as not to attract attention from the teacher. He didn't want either of them getting in trouble. When the paper was unfolded, he first observed the handwriting. Simone had strange handwriting. It wasn't swirly and pretty like a girls, but not sloppy and too big or small like a guys. It was plain and simple, but a little unbalanced. He then read the actual words, it said the following;  
  
"Todd, I was wondering what happened to your paper. I don't mean to be rude, but it was in slight disrepair. You ought to have rewritten it. But I'm not one to judge, the actual subject matter might have been excellent. Forgive me, but I'm a lover of English and it sometimes makes me sad to see how the English language has been slaughtered by today's casual grammar. Not to imply that you have any part in the degeneration of our language. Sorry for wasting your time. -Simone"  
  
Any other time, Todd would have replied with a careless, "its none of your business", but he decided to react otherwise. **Its funny, what she said earlier when Summers was hassling me. She said for him not to speak that way to her "friend". I wonder if she meant that, if she really sees me as her friend. If she does, I don't wanna ruin that, not that I won't eventually anyway. And what if she does join the Brotherhood? I know I just said that so Shades and his woman would lay off, but what if she did join. I wouldn't want to have her stuck around and hatin' on me. I better just keep my cool, even if she does diss my paper**  
  
He wrote a quick reply and when the teacher wasn't looking, slipped the re-folded note onto her desk. It said the following;  
  
"Yeah, your right, sorry. I wanted to ask you about earlier. Are you really a mutant? And why did you say you were in our group when Shades and Red knew you were lying, You don't even know the Brotherhood." The handwriting was sloppy, although he did try to write neater. He watched her write a reply in between taking notes and acting like she wasn't up to something. In a few minutes, the note was in his hands again. He read her reply;  
  
"I am a mutant, yes, but I think we should talk about all that later. I respect English greatly and I feel that the upkeep of this conversation during class time is deeply disrespectful." He replied for the last time;  
  
"Yeah, your right. Sorry".  
  
The rest of class seemed to drag by. Todd found himself becoming very bored and antsy, not to mention nervous and confused about Simone. She was very beautiful and he had a crush on her already.  
  
**Yo, what's wrong with me? There ain't no way I got a chance with this chick. She's beautiful and I'm..well, kinda..not.so.beautiful. I'm the kid everybody makes fun off. I'm the kid with the nickname "Toad". Not exactly sexy. I'm just misunderstood. Nobody ever actually gave me a chance, nobody here anyway. But that don't matter right now. Why did she say she was in the Brotherhood? I mean, its great that she said that, but why did she? It don't make no sense yo. **  
  
The next class was Algebra. Todd thought about the dog he used to have again when Simone followed him so intently. She stayed close and never stopped to talk to friends or anything. Then he remembered that she was new, and had no friends yet, except him. He felt bad comparing her to a dog in his head. He really had loved that dog though, heck, it never even got a chance to become a dog. It died when it was still a cute little puppy.** It died, yeah, like hell Turbo died. Turbo was killed. My own mother killed my puppy when I was seven, fricking seven. Yeah, I was seven, but I'm not anymore, so I shouldn't care.**  
  
The Algebra classroom was set up almost identically to the English classroom, save for the bookshelf in the back which held math text books instead of dictionary's. Todd sat at the back right-hand corner seat. He preferred seats in the back, that way he could goof off and not pay attention, and the teacher would rarely even notice. Or, the teacher wouldn't care. Some of the teachers had given up on Todd Tolanski and he knew it. Sometimes it bothered him, but sometimes it didn't.  
  
The only seat that was vacant was in the second row, and nowhere near Todd's seat. He had a good view of Simone though. He tried not to look at her too much during the class. She might catch him. He though about her though, most of Algebra, because he usually didn't pay attention anyway. He wondered about her powers mostly. She was a mutant, she had said so. And that meant she would have powers, but what kind?  
  
**I don't think she can read minds like Jean. If she could, I'd be screwed. Hey, look over here Simone. Hmmm, nothing, nope. I don't think she's got telepathy. Maybe she's really fuzzy and blue, like that Kurt kid, but I think that professor X is the only person you can get those image inducing thing's from, and she ain't with the X-men. She ain't wearin' shades, so she probably doesn't have, like, eye lasers. What could she do? I can't think of much else.**  
  
After Algebra had dragged by, the two faced Geophysics. Lance always said that he loved that class. It was no wonder why. Todd was surprised at how much there is to know about rocks. And he was amazed at how long a middle aged balding man could go on talking about them. That's all that ever really happened in that class, the teacher talked. Sometimes they did labs. Todd never had a partner for the labs, but he did now. There were a few vacant seats in that class, but Simone sat by Todd, much to Todd's surprise. **Probably just because she don't know anyone.**  
  
"Class", the teacher began to drone, "take out your notebooks. Today were going to be talking about the Earth's polar magnetism". He picked up a worn down piece of chalk and began writing on the blackboard at the front of the room. His handwriting was in cursive and, therefore, difficult to read. He wrote down important points as he continued lecturing.  
  
"Now, the earth has four poles, the geographic north and south poles, and the magnetic north and south poles. Today, we're talking about the magnetic poles..". It all faded off for Todd. He took the notes with little enthusiasm and barely paid attention to what he was writing. He was busy thinking about how pretty Simone smelled. Her scent was like that of a field of wildflowers, not that he had ever been in a field of wildflowers. He knew it was only perfume, but it was so enchanting. He was glad that he had decided to take a shower the night before. If she was going to be around, maybe he'd take them more often.  
  
He tried not to look at her too much, or too obviously. But since she was right next to him, it was hard not to get in the occasional glance. She had nice hands, very long and thin. Her fingernails were painted silver and they matched the several silver rings on her fingers. Hmm, she must not like gold. She was wearing four rings in all, each very large. One which was on her index finger of her right hand, looked like a normal ring, just with a very big black stone on it. The other on that hand, on her ring finger, looked like an eagle with emeralds encrusted into the eyes. On her left hand index finger, was a big "S" with little diamonds all in it. But the one on her left ring finger, her wedding band finger, was a spider.  
  
Todd almost jumped when the bell rang. It had caught him off guard. Quickly he jammed his notebook in his backpack, with his pencil along with it, and hastily zipped it. Simone followed suit only slower and much more calmly. She turned to Todd who was now standing and waiting for her. She stood and pulled her back pack up onto her back easily.  
  
"Now where to?" she asked quietly. She still seemed so nervous. Her eyes were a little shifty and they didn't stay on him for too long at a time. But there was a paradox. She seemed calm.just, not like a people person. She seemed like an outsider, or an anti-social, but not like someone terrified of leaving the house.  
  
"Lunch", he simply replied. He began walking towards the door and she followed. She was really less trouble than he had thought she'd be. Girls could be a hastle sometimes, if they were loud and obnoxious and annoying, but Simone was different, she was easy. She was quiet, and didn't demand too much attention. **Its probably just cuz' she's shy.**  
  
She followed him too the lunch line.  
  
"Um, where should I sit?" she asked. That was a good question. He wanted to talk to her about the whole mutant thing, and lunch period seemed to be a good time for that. But then he remembered who he sat with at lunch.the Brotherhood. He decided that he could talk to her and to them about her at the same time. He'd be killing two birds with one stone that way. Maybe he could convince them to let her join, although he knew that that part was really up to Mystique. He really wanted to see what Simone could do.  
  
"Uh, alright, it's like this. Go out that door", he pointed to the door that went to the outside café with his index finger. "When your outside, look for a table with three guys sittin' at it. One if kinda built with longer, dark hair. The others the same only with short white hair, and the other one is so big you wont be able to miss him. Just sit at that table and I'll be out pretty soon".  
  
"Ok, um.who are the guys?"  
  
"They're the other guys in the Brotherhood".  
  
"Oh, ok. Thanks". She quickly made her way through the huddled mass of kids in the lunch line, and out the big metal doors. **I woulda' told her that they were my friends, but after Pietro slappin' me last night, I'm not so sure about it. I wonder how he'll act today. Usually, after any of us fight, we sorta act like it never happened. But Pietro never slapped me before, and usually, there's no hitting involved, not like that anyway. He was angry when he did that. I could see it on his face. He was wearin it like a mask** Todd waited for the lunch line to move, although he wasn't very hungry anymore.  
  
Authors Note: Dear readers,  
This was a kind of boring chapter towards the end. I'm sorry readers. ^^;; I was going to have this chapter cover all of Simones first day, but then it would have been way too long so I decided to split it up. I will promptly begin work on chapter three. You may feel that Simone is very underdeveloped right now, but later, she'll really come out as a person. Don't worry, I've got everything from here on in planned out. It'll all be ok. So did you get another sandwich? I had a good sandwich today. It was peanut butter and marshmallow. Oh! You should try one! Here's how you make one: Ok, spread peanut butter on both slices of bread, then with a butter knife, cut a marshmallow into thin slices and place the slices on one slice of bread. Then, put them together and eat it! But remember, always get a parents permission before using a kitchen utensil, especially the ice cream scooper..its tricky. Well, On to chapter three! 


	3. Chapter Three:A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men evolution or X-men in any way shape, or form. I do not own the song that this story is named after. I do not own any of the titles of the chapters. I do own Simone Samson and any other minor character that is made up to fill the position of a teacher, etc.  
  
Authors note: Hello! *waves* I am sorry that I had to cut the first day in half. I am also sorry that it is taking me so long to post. I have been very busy lately and will be for awhile. I will continue to post, just not very quickly. I want to say "thank you" to all of the nice people who have reviewed so far! I am sooo glad you all like my fic! :-) Ok, get another sandwich, this ought to be yet another long one. Hey, this time, you should get some ice cream instead. I always like reading fanfics while eating ice cream, but eat it with a fork. Spoons are mean, evil, and tricky and should never be trusted. You could scoop your eye out, so be careful, Ok, on with the fic.  
  
Chapter three: A Good Man is Hard to Find  
  
Simone walked out through the big metal doors that lead to Bayville high's outside cafeteria. For a moment, she stood quietly, the other students rushing past her here and there. She just stood perfectly still, her eyes scanning her crowded surroundings. Her gaze fixated when she noticed a particular group of three people. They were sitting at a table near the secluded corner boundary of the cafeteria. Simone had little trouble noticing them. They're loudness and rowdiness had attracted her attention. She would have ignored them, thinking them to be troublemakers, had they not possessed the traits that Todd had described to her. These were the people he had told her to sit with.  
  
All three were boys and they all looked to be older than her or Todd. The first one she noticed was by far the easiest to pick out. He was a very large young man, unusually tall and unusually overweight. His clothes made him look like a rogue punk and he had a mohawk. The second one that she noticed caught her attention because of his white hair. It was like silver and it looked natural, which was the strangest part. She noted his movements, how fast they were, and how calm, yet antsy they were. He was like a living oxymoron in that sense. The last piece that finished the puzzle confirmed that these were the guys. The third boy was relatively built and muscular. His dark brown hair was down to his shoulders, just about, and he looked even more like a punk than Todd.  
  
Simone slowly made her way through the noisy maze of lunch tables and students. She felt hot and flustered in the crowd. She hated crowds, she hated people. Her mind was in anxiety. She kept it bottled, she kept it quiet, but in her head, she screamed.  
  
When she neared her destination, the three boys at the table did not so much as notice her. She sat down on the very end of one of the table's benches, as far from the alleged "Brotherhood" boys as she could get. She could tell that this was probably going to be hostile territory. As much as unkindness made her angry, she was in no mood for a quarrel. She sighed with quiet desperation when the muscular dark haired boy made the first move.  
  
"Hey, who are you?" His voice was very clearly hostile, as if he felt that she must be stupid to think that she could sit at their table.  
  
"No one", Simone answered. Her voice was so quiet it was little more than a whisper. As upset as she was that she had to sit with these rude people, all she could manage was a whisper. When you're trying to keep anger inside, you can only let so much go outside. The second hit came from the big boy with the mohawk.  
  
"We know that you're no one, that's why we don't want you sitting here". He looked angry as well. Simone couldn't stand this. She hated people messing with her.  
  
"Todd Tolenski told me to sit here". She spoke quietly.  
  
"Oh really?" The white haired boy spoke next. His voice was smooth but angry.  
  
"Well", the white haired boy continued, "we're just going to have to have a little talk with him aren't we. And who are you anyway girl? You're pretty funny looking, are you gothic or something?"  
  
"Sometimes". That was the truth after all. She dressed the part, but didn't quite feel it all the time.  
  
"Hey", the longhaired one said with a tone of inquiry, "is your name Simone?"  
  
Simone's eyes darted in his direction. She was confused now. It looked like the other two boys were confused too. They were staring at the longhaired one with puzzled eyes.  
  
"Yes". She said it very slowly, wondering how he knew. Suddenly, someone walked up behind her and sat down next to her, separating her from the three boys. She realized immediately that it was Todd and she was relieved. He set his lunch tray down on the table. The tray bottom was uneven and it wobbled. Simone sensed tension between him and these boys when he didn't greet them, and they didn't greet him. But the white haired one did say something.  
  
"Toad". His tone was very quiet but very firm. It scared Todd and he knew that Pietro was going to scold him. He hoped that it had nothing to do with the night before. He desperately wished that nothing had happened that night. He was glad that he didn't have a bruise.  
  
"What is it yo?" He asked the question as if he had no idea what was coming. Actually he didn't. He was trying to act like he didn't know that Pietro was mad at him.  
  
"Who's your friend?" There was clearly no friendliness in the question.  
  
Lance really felt sorry for Todd. He hadn't forgotten the conversation they had the night before and how he stormed out of Todd's room. He felt somewhat bad now. Why did Pietro always have to be like this with Toad?  
  
"That's not his friend, that's his girlfriend", Lance joked. He felt that it was better to tease Toad than to let Pietro start ragging on him and embarrass him in front of the girl he clearly liked. This way, Toad could retaliate if he wanted without making it look like a big fight.  
  
Todd was relieved that Lance had cut in, even if it was just to tease him.  
  
"Yo, she ain't my girlfriend, not yet anyway", he said clearly joking about the last part. He was relieved when he saw Simone giggle.  
  
"But she is a mutant". Todd figured he had better tell them about the incident that morning with Scott and Jean.  
  
"What?" Pietro looked very alert now.  
  
"And how do you know she's a mutant?"  
  
"Well", Todd began to explain, "I was supposed to show her around today because it's her first day here. She just moved here from Phoenix".  
  
"Get to the point Toad". Pietro sounded very impatient. His eyes were cold and glaring. "Alright, alright. Don't get your panties in a bunch. I had to meet her early this morning by the front of the school. When I got there, Scott and Jean showed up".  
  
"Scott and Jean, you mean from the X-men?" Pietro asked.  
  
"Yeah", Todd went on, "They started hassling her about joining the X- men".  
  
"You mean they wanted her?"  
  
"Yeah, but I told them she was with us. I know she ain't, but I.". He stopped when he saw Pietro get up and start walking towards him. Pietro grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Todd struggled, but he couldn't get loose. Pietro had him in the air now. It was hard to breathe.  
  
"She ain't with us Toad", Pietro imitated Todd's bad grammar. Anger was prominent in Pietro's eyes. His face was uncomfortably close to Todd's. The struggling boy almost thought he could see the roots of Pietro's eyebrow hairs.  
  
**What's happening to you man, Todd thought. Why are you freaking out like this so much lately. We used to be like homies.**  
  
"Who do you think you are to.OW!"  
  
Todd thought he saw something come up in front of his face and hit Pietro's left hand, then Pietro dropped him. Whatever it was, it was very fast, only a blur, and very accurate. Todd took a deep breath. He had been choking from how Pietro was holding him. He looked at the other boy who was now sitting on the ground holding his left hand and cursing loudly. He wondered what had just happened, until he saw Simone. She was standing beside where Pietro had been. Her left leg was forward and her right leg was behind her and to the right. Most of her weight was on her slightly bent left leg. She was holding her hands in tight fists in front of her face. She didn't hold that position for long. She shifted to stand normally, her feet close together. She put her palms together and bowed in Pietro's direction, then she walked back to the table bench and sat down.  
  
Todd walked over to her. She knew he was going to ask her what she had just done and she would be glad to tell him. She was very proud of the move she had just done. It was a good hit and accurate too. Sensei would be proud if he had seen.  
  
"Wha.di.What was that you just did"? Todd asked. Simone thought his blank expression was cute.  
  
"It was a left front snap-kick, and a very high one. I'm surprised I made it that high. It sure wasn't easy. Do you think he's ok?" She didn't really care if the white-haired boy was ok. He was being a bully and he got what was coming to him. Todd hadn't done anything wrong that deserved that kind of treatment from the other boy.  
  
"I'm sure he's fine, probably just a little pissed. Thanks though.you know, for making him let go of me". He suddenly got the feeling he was being watched. He looked to the left and saw Freddie and Lance, sitting silently, staring at Simone. Then he saw a huge grin sweep across Lance's face.  
  
"You'd be perfect for the Brotherhood!" Lance shouted. Simone blushed.  
  
"Fine then!" Pietro stood up and shouted angrily.  
  
"And I suppose I have to be the one to talk to Mystique right?"  
  
"Yeah Pietro", Lance said with enthusiasm, "You do that."  
  
"Why should I? I don't even want her in the group", Pietro shouted. Some other kids at the tables around them were looking now, probably hoping to see a fight. Pietro glared at the Brotherhood boys for a moment, especially Todd, and then turned around and walked off through the cafeteria and into the school. The eyes of almost all of the students in the cafeteria followed him as he stormed away. Simone heard whispers along the lines of "who's Mystique?", and, "what's his problem?".  
  
Todd sat down next to Simone.  
  
"Who's Mystique?" Simone whispered.  
  
"Mystique is a mutant like us. She's in charge of the Brotherhood. If you want in, your gonna' have to go through her". He wondered what was making Pietro act that way. Pietro had never been a very pleasant person to be around, but he wasn't downright mean.all the time.  
  
The cafeteria returned to its usually loud self. Lance and Blob continued eating what they had left to eat. Todd did not eat. For some reason, he wasn't very hungry. He could have gone for a good housefly or a barn fly. Barn flies were the best. They were big, and fat and juicy. Sometimes he would hang out in a hayloft at Bayville stables just to have some barn flies. He had never been caught or noticed by anyone but the horses, and, of course, the flies.  
  
"So, what's your nickname gonna' be?" he asked Simone.  
  
"Nickname?"  
  
"Yeah, mine is Toad. Freddie over there is the Blob". He pointed to the large boy with the mohawk. "Lance is Avalanche", he pointed to the longhaired punk. "And the guy you kicked is Quicksilver. His real name is Pietro".  
  
"Oh, ok. I think I will be Arachnid".  
  
"Arachnid? Ain't that some kind of spider?"  
  
"Well, you could say that. Its actually the group that the spider species is part of. It also includes scorpions, ticks, etc. Any eight legged arthropod is an arachnid".  
  
"Oh", Todd was amazed at her vast knowledge of bugs, especially because she was a girl. Maybe they had a little more in common than just being mutants.  
  
"Why Arachnid?" he asked.  
  
"You'll see". She smiled, it was as if she knew she was going to be in the Brotherhood, as if she knew something he didn't. The sadness around her was the same, knowing something he didn't. It was like when Turbo died and mom and dad hadn't told him yet. He knew something bad had happened to his puppy, but they just weren't telling him. Finally, his dad sat him down one night and told him that Turbo had gone up to puppy heaven. Todd cried anyway.  
  
He blotted out the image in his mind of himself as a crying seven-year-old, but only to unintentionally replace it with an image of himself as a crying twelve-year-old. He couldn't bear to remember the event that had caused those tears.  
  
"Why do they call you Toad?" Simone asked. A soft breeze blew by and a strand of her grown out bangs caresses the curve of her cheekbone.  
  
**She looks so soft. I wonder what her skin feels like.**  
  
"You'll see", he answered, smiling. He hoped that his abilities would be enough to impress her when she saw them. Even if she didn't make the Brotherhood, they could still hang out. He had a feeling, though, that she'd make it. Mystique wasn't exactly in a position to accept only the best of the best. Xavier already had her outnumbered and out-powered. He felt bad for pulling Simone into a group where she was destined for defeat. Maybe he should let her know the previous scoreboard for the Brotherhood VS. X-Men trilogy.  
  
The bell rang and the whole cafeteria rose collectively. While lunches were being pitched and girlfriends were saying good-bye's to boyfriends, Lance walked over to Todd and Simone with a smile on his face.  
  
"Hey, don't worry about Pietro", Lance said. "I'll talk to Mystique. Both of you will want to show up after school at the south entrance. If me and Mystique aren't there within twenty minutes of the last bell, then just go home. I think I'll be able to convince her though. I am her favorite after all". The last part was a joke obviously, by the way Lance and Todd both laughed.  
  
Freddie had already left for his next class when Lance walked away. Before he was out of sight in the mass of students, he turned his head and waved to Todd and Simone. **He ain't that bad. I think Pietro's the only one with a problem.**  
  
Todd looked at Simone.  
  
"Ok, next class is Art One", he said. "Follow me". Of course, she followed quietly. They entered the manic river of students swarming through the hallways. They both got pushed around a good deal and Simone was having trouble keeping sight of Todd. There were so many people..too many people.  
  
Suddenly Todd felt a little tug on the fabric handle on the top of his book bag. He glanced back while he kept walking. It was Simone. She was holding on to the handle on his book bag. Anxiety replaced the constant sorrow imbedded in her eyes as they darted right and left. She looked scared. It was strange. It almost seemed as if she had never been around so many people.  
  
"What's the problem?" he asked.  
  
"Oh, nothing.I just, I didn't want to get.get lost. There's so many.people".  
He let her keep holding on. He actually liked it. Finally, someone didn't flinch back when getting close to him. Finally, someone could stand to touch him. It was probably just because he had showered the night before. It wasn't so bad. He was thinking about taking another one tonight.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~* The art classrooms walls were paved with projects, ranging from drawings to paintings to wall hangings to ceramic masks. The desks were like those in the science room and were really tables for two people each. The tables were arranged in rows of four with three tables in each row, except the fourth. The fourth row only had one table. That was Todd's table and he sat there alone, as in most classes. When they entered the room, Simone followed him and sat in the seat next to his. He felt a pang of despair. She probably knew by now that he most often sat alone in classes.  
  
Shortly after the bell rang, the teacher made her appearance. The art teacher was a thin gawky woman with short springy orange hair. It had glittery doodads all in it. She wore a dress of many patches and colors. She seemed so lively, almost disgustingly lively. She pranced to her desk and informed the gathering class of their next project.  
  
"Natural forms!", she sang enthusiastically. "You can do a seashell, a leaf, or even a nude if you want a challenge!". She danced through the aisle's and handed out blank sheets of paper, most likely to be used as the sloppy copy. She stopped when she got to Simone and Todd's table, the glittery doodads in her hair bouncing wildly.  
  
"You must be our new student, Simone! Welcome to Bayville! I'm Ms.Oley, the art teacher", she held out her hand. Simone shook it shyly. "Tell me Simone, are you an artist?" The woman's voice was cheerfully shrill. Simone wondered if that was possible, but obviously, oxymoron wasn't a literary term for this woman, it was a way of life.  
  
"Yes", Simone whispered. She doubted the teacher even heard her.  
  
"Wonderful!" Ms.Oley clapped her hands once. "I have a feeling you'll like this project then. Oh, and maybe you can be of influence to Todd too! He'd be a talented artist if he tried harder".  
  
"Come on, Ms.Oley, you know I'm just in a creative slump", Todd joked, "artists block". "For the whole quarter?" Ms.Oley teased with obnoxious gusto. She then pranced off to the front of the room to give further instructions.  
  
"Now class, this sheet is for your sloppy copy. After you finish it, were going to put your forms on a bigger sheet and use oil pastels. As I said, you can do seashell's, flowers, nudes or any other natural form that you think of. You only have three days to work on the first copy, so get to work!" She then sat down at her desk and picked up a book. She started reading it, the title looked like it said something along the lines of, "Surrealism for Dummies".  
  
**What should I draw?** Todd watched Simone begin her drawing. **A nude is out of the question. I ain't that good at drawing, plus everybody would think I was a pervert. There ain't no way I'm doing a flower. I guess I'll have to do a seashell, but then I gotta find one to use as a model. I guess I could steal one from a pet shop or something**. He stared at his blank paper. His pencil, being teetered in-between his index and middle finger, made a rhythmic tapping noise on the desktop. He glanced over at Simone, working hard on her first draft. Her eyes were completely focused, as if there was only her and the drawing in the whole world. Todd glanced at her drawing out of the corner of his eye.  
  
**Whoa! It's a nude! It's good too!** The half-finished woman on the paper was perfectly proportioned with beautiful curves and contours. She hadn't lied when she told Ms.Oley she was an artist. He looked at his own blank paper disappointedly.  
  
"What are you going to draw?" Simone's voice wasn't so shy and timid now. It was a little louder and he could make out an actual distinction in the sound.  
  
"I don't know. I think it's gonna be a seashell".  
  
"Those are pretty easy, but they're not something you see every day, not something one is very familiar with. People know every curve of their bodies because they see them everyday, but its funny how not everybody can draw a body, you know what I mean?"  
  
"Yeah, I think so", he wasn't completely sure what she meant, but he had a good enough idea.  
  
The rest of that class went by relatively fast, but Todd's drawing didn't. By the end of class, Simone's drawing had been finished and approved for its next draft by Ms.Oley. Todd still had a blank page.  
  
The bell rang and Todd led Simone to the study hall room. By now, the day was growing middle-aged and the students were growing weary of it. He could tell by how long it took to get up the stairs. They were almost late for the next class.  
  
The study hall room was a very plain room. There were no posters on the walls or words on the chalkboard. You were allowed to sit at any of the medium sized round tables in the room. There were six tables in all and each was able to accommodate up to four or five people. Simone sat with Todd at the desolate table near the back of the large room. He really had nothing to do, so he worked on his algebra homework from earlier that morning. Simone did the same. There were even a few times when she passed him a small sliver of paper with a question about the assignment scribbled on it. She seemed to have a problem with integers. He would answer her question the best he could and pass the paper back to her. They would have just spoken, but there was an aluminum sign above the blackboard that read, "No Talking Please".  
  
Soon Simone and Todd noticed the other people in the study hall noisily packing up their things. Papers ruffled and zippers zipped loudly. They probably couldn't stand the silence anymore. He sometimes felt that way at home, when Pietro was upset. When Pietro was upset, nobody so much as sneezed.  
  
Todd hated Health class, mostly because the teacher, Mrs.Kinble, hated him. She hated him from day one, and Todd knew why. It was all because of his hygiene problems. Mrs.Kinble found Todd Tolenski to be an abomination to the very principle's of health all together. Well, maybe she'd be nicer today because he was clean. He sat at the front of the room, according to Mrs.Kinbles seating chart. He would've sat in the back as usual, but she insisted on frequently using him as an example for bad hygiene. He was her poster boy and he hated it. He frequently skipped that class. He most often got away with it too. There was an up side to having Mystique as a principle. He had connections.  
  
Simone ended up sitting in the back of the room and he had to go without seeing her for the entire period. Instead, he had to look at Mrs.Kinble's mean and angry face. Thankfully, she finished the class period with only giving him a few angry glares and that was it. After the bell rang, he waited for Simone and when she was packed up, they went off to History, the very class they had met in the day before. A lot had changed in the twenty four hours since he had been there last. He never would've expected that today he'd be showing up here with the new girl that he was afraid to look at yesterday. He never would have expected that the new girl would be so much more than just.a new girl.  
  
When they got there and the bell rang, they each sat down in the same seats they had been in yesterday. Mr.Haley smiled at them when they were the first to get there. Todd always felt like teachers only cared about you when you were good, when you were their bitch. When you did everything they wanted you too, they were alright with you. He knew Mr.Haley would not have smiled at them if they had been late.  
  
"Well Todd", Mr.Haley said cheerfully, "It seemed like your doing a nice job of showing Ms.Samson around our school. Your actually here on time for once". Mr.Haley laughed. Todd didn't. "So Simone, how do you like Bayville high?"  
  
"I like it", she said and smiled.  
  
"Good, good".  
  
The seats soon began to fill and tired heads rested on desks. Restless pencils tapped Formica. Sneakers wiggled against the plastic floor tiles making annoying squeaking noises.  
  
**Last period, thought Todd. Just have to get through this last period. I hate school. I can never concentrate. It's all so much information. My brain can't remember it all. I didn't get enough sleep last night. Like I ever get enough sleep. That's why I got these dark rings around my eyes, from not sleeping enough. Maybe they're from straining my eyes. I should just get glasses, but Mystique wouldn't pay for them. I can't wait until summer so I can just be done with this. **  
  
The teacher started giving notes. Todd absent-mindedly copied them down, but he didn't process a single word of them. This was how he took notes most of the time. That was probably why he didn't do well on tests, and when he did study, he couldn't make sense out of his own notes. It was like trying to interpret scribbles.  
  
**I wonder if Mystique will show after school. I'm surprised she hasn't tried to get a hold of Simone already. Man, if Simone can hit Pietro without using her powers, imagine how strong she is with them. Maybe she was using 'em. Maybe the chicks just got super-strength like Blob. I don't know but..she sure is beautiful. It looks like she don't have a boyfriend. I mean, if she does, she's doing a good job of not mentioning him. Maybe she does have one back in Phoenix. I actually hope she doesn't, but it's not as if she'd ever get with me. But why not? I ain't that bad, I mean, I can be nice when I try. I could be very nice to her if I tried and I know it. I mean, I got a lot to offer, kinda. It's not as if I'd cheat on her or lie to her. I ain't got much to lie about anyway. I'd pay tons of attention to her and buy her things..if I had money. I could be a good boyfriend if I tried. I'd be willing to try. I wonder if she'd give me a chance. I bet she would. She seems like the type of girl who would. I think she likes me as a friend already.but who knows how long that'll last.  
  
I hope Mystique doesn't have some secret reason for not letting her join. Mystique is like that a lot. I wonder if she'd live in the Brotherhood house if Mystique let her in. That'd be great yo, even if it does mean having a chick around all the time. She's a cool chick, well so far. I guess I don't really know her that well yet. Oh well, if she gets in the Brotherhood, I guess I'll have to get to know her. Man, I can't wait to see what kind of abilities she has. I hope Mystique will let me see later., This class is so boring yo.  
  
I wonder why I been thinking about Turbo so much today. If I should be thinking about anybody, it's my dad. I guess I still can't handle it yet. Thinking about my dead dog isn't as hard as thinking about my dad. I hope my mom is getting what she deserves. She deserves to go through hell and back for what she did to him, and to me, but mostly him. I'm not the one she.**  
  
The bell rang. Todd was glad it rang, he couldn't handle thinking about his mom and dad for another second. It only made him miserable, but he hid it so well. He always acted as if nothing sad ever happened to him in his life. He always pretended to be so happy and content with his life now. He played the part so well that the other guys in the Brotherhood never even asked him about his past. They must have figured it didn't hold much interest. Todd thought it was funny sometimes, how wrong someone can actually be. The classroom cleared out and the desks emptied quickly. Todd put his notebook in his book bag and got up. He walked over to Simone's desk where she was stuffing her notebook into her purple book bag. That thing was so flamboyant it almost made Todd sick to him stomach. Simone, however, was barely flamboyant, all in black again with her white-as-paper complexion. When he thought of it, he realized that he was pale himself. His skin lacked a lot of pigment.  
  
Simone stood up and pulled her bag onto her back.  
  
"Should we go to our lockers first before we meet with Mystique?" she asked.  
  
"I don't think that's a good idea. Mystique's not the kind of lady who likes wait at all, not for us anyway". They both walked to the door and exited, barely hearing Mr.Haley say "Have a good weekend". Oh yeah, Todd thought, today is Friday. Kick-ass.  
  
The hallways emptied fast so they were able to make good time getting to the south exit. Simone walked beside Todd now instead of behind him. She was actually very close. He got another good whiff of her perfume when they went out the south entrance door. The autumn wind had blown the scent in his direction. It was so beautiful, and for an instant, it made him reminisce about a better time in his life, more like a better day in his life. Then it was gone.  
  
When they had gotten a good few meters from the doors, Todd spotted Mystique. For now, she was in the inconspicuous form of the principle. She was standing in the shadow of a tree, darkness licking her spitefully happy face like flames. Her eyes shone yellow for no more than a split second. It always scared Todd when she did that.  
  
Lance was standing in the shadow as well and Todd almost didn't notice him. He was smiling too, only not in the same way as Mystique. Lance looked excited.  
  
Mystique turned her head left, then right, then looked over her shoulder, then past Todd and Simone who had stopped a few yards away. Her body then began to morph, her waist thinned and her clothes turned white. Her hair grew and turned a strange orange color, but the most prominent change was in her skin tone. It went from apricot to indigo, and her eyes turned yellow.  
  
Simone starred as the now changed woman stepped out from the shadows, her eyes flashing in the sunlight, and her skin lightening in its rays. Mystique smiled a very demonic looking smile that made her pearl white fangs visible. She rested one fist on her hip.  
  
"What's wrong little girl? Haven't you ever seen a mutant before", the blue skinned woman asked with frightening sarcasm.  
  
"Yes, I have", Simone answered firmly.  
  
"So", Mystique stepped towards Simone and folded her arms across her chest. She tilted her head to the side a little as if she were looking the younger female over.  
  
"You must be Simone", the indigo skinned woman stated. Her words were clearly not friendly. They almost sounded greedy. "It's good to finally meet you, I was going to have a meeting with you myself, but Avalanche here did all the work for me". She glanced at Lance, smiling slyly. She then glared at Simone again, that smile still on her face, her snakelike eyes flashing.  
  
"He told me about the incident earlier this afternoon", Mystique went on. "When you hit Quicksilver".  
  
"I didn't hit him Ma'am", Simone stated. "I used a left front snap kick".  
  
"Well, whatever you did, I'm impressed. Not everybody can hit Quicksilver. That's why he's called that. He has super human speed". Simone nodded as if this were a lesson.  
  
"So Simone", Mystique went on, "I think that you would be a valuable member in this Brotherhood of mine. So I'm going to test you. I want you to attack me right now, at full power. I want to see what you can do".  
  
Simone slipped her book bag off and set it on the ground beside her.  
  
"Yes Ma'am, but what if I hurt you?" Surprisingly, Simone's words were not proud and she seemed to mean what she said. Todd crouched down and quickly hopped over to where Lance stood under the tree. Simone's eyes followed him and she felt like she now had a pretty good idea as to why he was called Toad. His legs and spine looked so flexible as he leapt and he seemed to do it with such ease.  
  
Todd stayed crouched down next to Lance's feet and squinted his eyes to see Simone better. He had been waiting all day to see her abilities and he didn't want to miss even the tiniest thing.  
  
Mystique just chuckled in response to Simone's question about hurting her. "Just attack me".  
  
"Yes ma'am. Now?" Simone asked.  
  
"Now".  
  
Simone put her right foot out in front of her a few feet and put most of her weight on it. She held her fists up in front of her face. This was the same position Todd had seen her in earlier, after kicking Pietro, only then, her left foot had been out. Todd watched with anticipation, as did Lance. They both watched so intently, that they almost immediately noticed a change in Simone.  
  
Two lumps suddenly began forming on the middle of her back at her waist area, clearly visible despite the black fabric of her shirt covering them. They elongated as they grew and came down to poke out from under the back of her shirt. The two boys could see the skin stretching over the elongating limbs as they bent and morphed. He saw something like fingers on the end of each one.exactly like fingers. The two limbs then stretched to go to around her waist. Simone positioned them exactly how she positioned her arms, even making two extra fists.  
  
It took Todd a moment to realize what they were, but when he did, he was astonished. Simone had just sprouted an extra set of arms, perfectly formed, muscular arms with perfect fingers and everything.  
  
"Is that all?" Mystique asked slyly to Todd and Lance's dismay.  
  
"No Ma'am", the now four armed girl calmly stated. Simone suddenly shifted her weight foreword and threw two punches at the same time with her two right arms. The punches were so fast that Todd could barely see them, but Mystique saw them just fine. The indigo skinned women threw herself backwards and did a backflip away from Simone. **She thinks she's out of my striking range,** thought Simone. She watched with satisfaction as Mystique landed and the indigo skinned woman's face was painted with horror.  
  
Simone's punches had deadly accuracy. One went to the face and one went to the middle of the chest below the breast. The one to the chest would have killed Mystique by causing her lungs to collapse, but both of the punches stopped only a millimeter from the shape shifting mutants body.  
  
"How?" Mystique gasped with shock, "I am out of your striking range!" She looked at Simone, who had not moved an inch from where she had been standing before, her arms still extended in the punch position. It would have been impossible for the punches to have reached that far.  
  
Todd's eyes were wide and unblinking. He was staring at Simone's punching arms. He had to turn his head to see the whole length of them.  
  
"Your arms! They stretched!" Mystique shouted. Simone nodded and her arms shrunk back to her, all four of them held as before, the two top ones in fists in front of her face and the two bottom ones in front of her abdomen. They had indeed stretched, to over a few yards in length, just like rubber bands, only her bone seemed to have stretched with them, and she seemed to have perfect control over the limbs.  
  
Mystiques look of horror eased into a smile of satisfaction. There was a moment of silence.  
  
"Your in", Mystique hissed. "With powers and speed like yours, we will have no trouble beating those X-men to a pulp", she paused and scowled, "but why didn't you hit me? You should have. I told you to attack me at full power".  
  
"I did Ma'am", Simone shifted her weight back to normal. Her feet were close side by side. Two arms hung at her sides and the other two hung behind her back. "But you were not aware of my ability to stretch my limbs, so it would have been unfair if I had hit you".  
  
Mystique moaned. "If you are afraid of hurting your opponents or of being unfair, then this group is not for you". She folded her arms across her chest.  
  
"I am not afraid of hurting my opponents", Simone stated, "I just felt that since you are of a higher rank than I am, it would be best if I did not hit you".  
  
"Higher rank?"  
  
"Yes, aren't you the teacher of this group?"  
  
Mystique looked at the ground, "Well, I suppose you could say that. Do you fight using martial arts or something?"  
  
"Yes".  
  
"Well?" Mystique yelled waiting for a specific type or name of the art.  
  
"Kung fu, Ma'am".  
  
"Ah, well, you seem to be very good"  
  
"Thank you".  
  
"Is that all you do as far as mutant abilities are concerned?"  
  
"No", Simone answered, "I can grow an extra pair of legs from my back as well, but I prefer not to, it's not a very nice sight and it hurts to use them. I can secrete a glue-like substance from my palms and the soles of my feet. I can use it to climb up walls". Todd marveled at Simones powers. This chick was amazing.  
  
"Well", Mystique went on smiling, "I doubt you'll need that extra set of legs with the power you have in your arms alone, and, judging by the incident with Pietro, your two legs". She closed her eyes in thought. "What shall your alias be?"  
  
Todd leapt towards Simone and crouched on the grass next to her feet.  
  
"She said its Arachnid", he stated.  
  
"Hmmm, Arachnid", Mystique repeated it to herself. "Yes, that sounds perfect for your abilities. You can grow eight limbs in all, you can climb up walls, and your arms can become very long, like spiders legs".  
  
"My legs can grow too", Simone said.  
  
"Would you parents consider letting you move into my boarding house? It's where all of the members of the Brotherhood live and I think it's only right that you live there too, since your member now".  
  
"I'll ask them", Simone answered. "I live by myself in an apartment building. They send me the rent money from Phoenix, but I still wouldn't want to do anything without their permission".  
  
"Alright then", Mystique smiled in a very sadistic looking manner, as if she knew that Simone would be her ticket to victory. "Toad! I want you to organize her moving in since you seem to know her so well", Mystique hissed sarcastically. She walked over to the crouching boy and grabbed him by the collar. He hated that, he hated her. She scared him because he knew that she could probably kill him, and worse, if she wanted to.  
  
"Don't mess it up!" Mystique let go of him and then walked away, morphing back into the form of the principle while she did. Soon she was gone inside the school. Lance walked out of the shadows and went up to Todd and Simone. He smiled.  
  
"Way to go! That was really cool. I knew you'd make it in", Lance said.  
  
"Thank you", said Simone, blushing.  
  
"Hey, you want a ride home Simone?"  
  
"Oh, not if it's too much trouble".  
  
"It won't be no trouble", Todd said. His expression was friendly and eager to help, but inside he wondered why Lance was being so nice to her. Lance never waited to give him a ride, he usually just left without him. He scolded himself for feeling that way. That was selfish.  
  
"All right", Simone said to Lance, "But Todd and I still have to go to our lockers. We'll hurry though".  
  
"That's cool", Lance said, "Me and Pietro and Blob will be waiting by the north entrance in my jeep, if Pietro didn't leave already".  
  
"Blob wouldn't let him leave you stranded", Todd pointed out.  
  
"Yeah, your probably right", Lance said. "Well, I'll be waiting". The longhaired boy smiled and walked away towards the front of the school.  
  
For a few moments there was silence, then Simone's extra arms shrunk into her back again and were gone. Nonchalantly, she walked over to her book bag and picked it up, slipping her arms into the straps and bearing it's weight on her back. Todd stood up straight and walked over to her.  
  
"That was really great!" he said enthusiastically.  
  
Simone smiled as if she had just accomplished some long awaited goal.  
  
"Thank you..Mystique isn't very nice is she?"  
  
"Saying she's not very nice is an understatement", Todd said with a sigh. "Well, I guess we better get to our lockers before the school doors lock".  
  
In his mind, Todd was very relieved, although, very troubled. He was glad that she had made it into the Brotherhood. This gave him an opportunity to get to know her better and to spend time with her, but it also meant that she would have to get to know him. There were some things about him that he did not want anybody knowing, especially a beautiful girl. He hoped she wouldn't be too disgusted by some of his mannerisms, well most of them actually. But his sense of anxiety was drowned out by the joy of knowing that he was going to see her everyday, not just in school, but at home as well. He was actually thankful to Mystique for letting her in, and for putting him in charge of her move. Maybe life was finally going to start looking up. Maybe he had gotten his fare share of misery, and it was time for his helping of happiness.  
  
Authors Note: I hope you liked that chapter because I liked writing it! I am sorry that you all had to wait so long for it. I have been very busy lately, but do not give up on me! This thing will get finished no matter how long it takes, and you know why? Because of all you, beautiful people who I know are waiting with intense anticipation to see what happens! How was your ice cream? What flavor was it? Did it have chocolate? I love chocolate! Did you eat it with a fork as I told you too? I bet you did. If you did not, you are probably not reading this because your dead right now killed by a spoon. I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so! Those spoons are bad! Okey-dokey, next chapter is going to be a diary entry of Simone's. Its got some very important information about her past and future so do not just skip it thinking its nothing. Read it and enjoy good-bye! ( 


	4. Chapter four: Calliope

Disclaimer: I do not own Todd Tolanski, X-men, or-X-Men Evolution. I do not own Tom Waits or any of his songs. I do not own Five-Iron Frenzy or any of their songs. I do not own Guns'n'Roses. I do own Simone Samson/Arachnid. Please do not steal her or copy her. If you do, it shows that you are not creative enough to create your own character. Please do not insult yourself by stealing other people's characters.  
  
Authors Note: Well I really hope you liked chapter three and judging by the reviews I have gotten, I think you do. ^^ I am sorry it took so long to get that chapter up. I finished it and I felt it really sucked compared to the first two chapters, so I rewrote the whole entire thing until I was happy with it. These chapters are long, some about ten pages in word pad. In addition, I go over them allot to make sure I am posting a prime pick of a story. It all seems worth it because I am making you beautiful people happy. ^^ I write because I like to and even if you didn't like it, I'd be fine with that, but you do like it and that's an extra boost to my confidence.  
This chapter is a diary entry of Simone's. It has very important information about her past, so I suggest you take the time for this chapter. What you all know about Simone's past may be, or become, very confusing so far. I promise it will all come together. I have the whole story planned out from the beginning to the very end. This chapter may not be as long as the others, so I suggest you get yourself a pudding cup or two. Always mix your pudding with a fork so that it is nice and smooth, and remember what I told you about spoons. They are very tricky because you would not expect them. Knives are honest, you know a knife is a b**** when you first see it. Excuse my language, anyway, on with chapter four! ^^  
  
Chapter four: Calliope  
  
Dear Diary,  
Hey, its Simone. Big surprise huh? Yeah, you have not heard from me in a while. You were starting to get dusty. It has to have been about two weeks. The last time I wrote you was the day before I started going to Bayville high. I have been so busy lately, moving and all. Oh, I didn't tell you I moved. I'll fill you in on everything right now.  
  
As you know, I started going to Bayville high about a week after I moved here from Phoenix. I hate moving. There's so much organization involved and I have trouble finding room for all my things. I don't like getting rid of stuff. But that's beside the point.  
  
I met the boy from my vision, Todd Tolanski. It was so strange finally meeting him, finally seeing him two years after my vision. I was beginning to forget what he would look like. When I showed up, it went so smooth, I mean, us meeting. My history teacher had him show me around school on my first day. God works in mysterious ways. Its amazing how well His plans work out.  
  
He does seem troubled, Todd I mean. But I'll get to that later. Anyway, he's part of a group of mutants called the Brotherhood of Evil mutants. They're more troubled outcasts than evil though. That's why I didn't mind joining their group. I was auditioned about two weeks ago by their leader a woman named Mystique. She can shape-shift, I guess you'd call it. She can change her whole appearance to look like anybody she wants to. In her natural form, she really has blue skin and yellow eyes. She's always trying to intimidate the boys in the group, and she usually succeeds. She likes me though, because I watch things while she's away or busy, which is often. In only two weeks, I'm becoming her right hand woman. I'm such a butt-kisser, haha.  
  
Well, after Mystique auditioned me, she told me I should live in the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House. It's where the rest of the Brotherhood lives. Mom and Dad were a little resistant to let me move in here at first. I didn't tell them that the Brotherhood is a group of villains. If I had told them that, they never would have let me move in here or even join the group...even though I joined without their permission anyway.  
  
Mom felt that my moving in here defeated the purpose of my moving away from Phoenix in the first place. I guess she's right. After all, I did move away because it would be easier for me to live on my own, without worrying about my blood condition, without worrying about killing someone every time I got a cut or a nosebleed. That's the one part of my abilities I wish I didn't have.  
  
When I told Mom and Dad about Todd living here though, they gave it the ok. They know about my vision, they know that he's the one I'm supposed to help. They must really trust me, knowing my future but letting me move in here with him anyway, letting me move in here with four boys period. But they do trust me, and they know Mystique is around...sometimes.  
  
Now to tell you all about Todd. I can see why he was in my vision. He does need help, especially with Pietro here beating up on him all the time. Pietro is another one of the Brotherhood boys. I'll tell you all about them later too. I have a bad habit for getting off subject. Pietro doesn't beat Todd up all the time, just when Todd says a certain thing or does something that makes Pietro mad. Todd says Pietro hasn't always been like this. I believe him. There's something Pietro is hiding, but I don't know what it is, and I don't think the others have a clue. Pietro criticizes Lance and Freddie a lot too, but he doesn't beat up on them. They're bigger and stronger. Pietro doesn't even speak to me. The first day of school I did a left front snap kick on him.... Or was it a right front snap kick? I can't remember. Anyway, he deserved it because he was embarrassing Todd in front of the whole cafeteria. Ever since then, Pietro doesn't even look at me unless it's a glare when I show up while he's in the process of ragging at Todd or the others. ...He doesn't really beat up on Todd much physically. He might push him or something, but that's about it. I think he's afraid to really mess with Todd because he knows I'll kick his butt.  
  
I get the feeling Todd doesn't like the idea of having a girl looking out for him though.  
  
Todd has problems about things from his past. He doesn't get enough sleep and he has dark rings around his eyes because of it. He won't let on about his past, not at all. Every time I ask him, he changes the subject. It's not going to be easy getting through the walls he puts up. I get the feeling, though, that he want's to tell me things. He want's someone to break down the walls around him, but I think he's afraid. He's afraid that once the walls come down, not only will I be able to get in to help him, but I'll be able to get in to hurt him. He's right too.  
  
Maybe I should just stay and watch him leave. Maybe I should stay and fight this battle in person so that it's easier on him. It's not right for me to dump all of this on him. It's not his job to fight my battles. No, I can't think like that. I've made up my mind. When the time comes for me to make my exit, I will go. If anything, my leaving won't be hard on him, but easier, because he won't go through the pain of having to choose. Maybe he'll hate me, and it will be easier for him to forget me.  
  
If only I was not destined to be defeated, then I'd stay and fight my best so I could win, and everyone would be happy. Todd sees the sadness inside of me. He's noticed how my eyes are always gray with sorrow. He doesn't know that they used to be blue.  
  
The easiest part of this mission of mine will be the first part. He likes me already, I can tell. And I like him very much. He's so cute, the way he talks, the way he says "yo" all the time. He has really great hair. It's so long! I just want to run my fingers through it sometimes. It's such an unusual color. It's actually tumbleweed, like the crayon. It's brown, but very, very pale. The holes on the knees of his jeans are so cute. He dresses so punkish, but he talks like all.ghetto.  
  
He helped me move in. I'm in the room next to Mystiques. It was so funny when I brought Midori here. He was carrying in a box from Lance's jeep when he saw me with her on my shoulder while I was organizing my bookshelf. He freaked out and dropped the box on his foot. Thankfully, it was only my stuffed animals so it was light. I guess he thought I was joking when I told him I had a tarantula.  
  
The other guys, Lance and Freddie, are both really nice. Freddie is a really great cook, well, from what Todd tells me. I've seen the dishes he makes and they look really good. I would have some when I eat but there's never any left over. Guys sure do eat a lot.  
  
Lance is really nice too. He helps me with my science homework sometimes. Geophysical science was his favorite subject as a freshman and I have trouble with it, so he helps me. Todd doesn't do his homework most of the time, but I think that's starting to change. Lance told me that Todd used to shower only once a month. He sounds honest, but he might be lying. He says that ever since I came along, he's been showering a lot more often, about every other night. Lance is always telling me I should make a move on Todd. I would, but I think Todd has to be the one to come around. I can't force myself on him, or he might push me away.  
  
Living with four boys is really tough. There's always yelling and always messes. I hear a lot of crude talk and find a lot of crude magazines, usually Pietro's or Lance's. Freddie's not that kind of guy and Todd is actually quite inhibited when it comes to that sort of thing, especially when I'm around.  
  
Right now, I'm in my room. Its Saturday night. My door is locked. If anybody ever knocks I just extend my arm and unlock it, of course, I ask who it is first. I can hear Lance's stereo blaring from his room. It's the Guns'n'Roses CD he borrowed from me. Somebody's baking brownies, I can smell them. It's probably Freddie. Todd's door just slammed.and Pietro is yelling in the hallway. Oh crap.  
  
Pietro stopped yelling. Now his door slammed. I have to go diary. I'm going to go talk to Todd and see what's up. I promise to write in you more often from now on. Now that I'm done moving in, I shouldn't be so busy anymore. I'll talk to you tomorrow.  
  
- Simone  
  
P.S. I have an alias now. It's Arachnid. Midori likes it a lot.  
  
Authors note: Readers, please read this it's very important. I use perfect paragraphing and dialogue when I write, but sadly, today I saw my story on the site for the first time. Fanfiction.com did something to the whole stracture of my story, especially chapter three, so I have gone through and hit enter between every paragraph in hopes that this will fix the problem. I hope it does. Also, thoughts in my original piece are in ittalics. Obviousely, italics don't show up on the sight so I have put all thoughts between four asterisks. Two are at the beginning of a thought and two at an end. Please forgive me for inconveniences, and thank you Storm-Pietro for allerting me of the problem. ^^ I was so mad at fanfiction.com when I saw what they did to my story. I hope they don't kick me out for saying that. On to chapter five. 


	5. Chapter five

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men or X-men evolution or any of its characters. I do own Simone Samson/ Arachnid.  
  
Authors Note: I hope you liked chapter four. Sorry it was so short, but diary entries are not usually terribly long. No, Todd and Simone are not going out right now. The last chapter may have confused you, but they are not currently. How was your pudding? What kind was it? Was it chocolate? I like chocolate pudding best, but I like the instant stuff more than the cups. Well, grab yourself another few cups, or maybe go make yourself a batch of instant pudding. Here, I will wait.........................Back? Good, ok, on with the show, I mean, story!  
  
Chapter Five:  
  
It was Sunday night. The world outside was gleaming in the moonlight because of the almost perfect sheet of new fallen snow. Each of the Brotherhood members were alone in their rooms, not knowing that each other one was looking at the same scene through their windows. Each one was sitting in the dark with only the lights from the street lamps and moon outside to see by.  
  
Lance was sitting on an old creaky chair in front of his window, practicing guitar. The light reflecting off the snow outside illuminated the body of his Fender Stratocaster. His fingers danced along the silver strings, the cords changing quickly and accurately. The strumming was slow and the pick he used was old and wearing slowly away. This was the reason he was in his room. He wanted privacy, quiet. He wasn't in the mood to play for an audience tonight. Little did he know that there wouldn't have been one if he went downstairs anyway.  
  
He played on, not letting thoughts or worries distract him from making beautiful music. The scene outside inspired him. It was so beautiful when the rays of the moon hit a smooth layer of fresh snow. The tiny crystals shone almost fluorescent under streetlights and Christmas lights. The song he played sounded like how the snow outside looked. It matched perfectly, until he noticed a slight difference. His right hand went from the guitar neck to the chrome knobs on the head. He tightened the second string while strumming it.  
  
**I wonder what Toad's problem is. He needs to make his move already. It's so obvious that he likes Simone*. He tightened the third string too. *And she knows it. I know she knows. She likes him too. He's my friend and all, but it's not like a guy like him gets attention from a girl like her everyday. She's nice, and pretty, and smart, and strong, and generous...and she isn't stuck up. She knows she's around a bunch of punks but it's as if she doesn't care. I don't think she minds at all. **  
  
He went to the fifth string and tuned it as well. That string was particularly moody. He could be playing perfectly and it would still twang. It never wanted to stay tuned.  
  
**If I weren't so crazy about Kitty, I'd try with Simone myself. I couldn't do that to Toad though. He'd hate me forever. He needs this. He needs her. If he doesn't tell her how he feels soon, then I'll tell her how he feels myself. **  
  
His hand went back to the neck. He started playing again, going from an E minor seventh to an A minor and eventually to a C. The minor chords were his favorite. They reminded him of a sunset in a desert for some reason. They painted beautiful pictures in his mind, and he focused on the pictures. He focused on the beautiful pictures of a world he wished he could live in.  
  
Pietro could hear Lance playing from his room. The sounds painted no pictures in his mind. He just sat on the edge of his bed and stared blankly out the window. He fell back on his bed and stared even more blankly at the ceiling. His mind wasn't half as blank as his facial expression, but he wished it could be.  
  
**What's my problem lately? I've never acted like this before, and as much as I don't want to admit it, I know there's something wrong. I've just been so edgy. I'm not trying to get angry when I do. It just...happens. I just get so angry inside over the stupidest things and I can't control it. Toad hates me and I know Lance wants to kick my ass sometimes. Blob is hurt because of what I said to him today. I should have kept my mouth shut about the banana nut bread. It actually wasn't that bad. I should just go and apologize, but I'm excessively proud. God forbid I ever apologize for my stupid decisions. **  
  
He sighed and sat up, staring out the window again. His stare wasn't so blank anymore. It was more troubled.  
  
**I don't even want to think about Simone. She has to have the worst impression of me. I'm actually afraid of her. I still can't believe she was able to land one on me. I have a feeling she'd do it again too. I wonder why she gets so upset when I mess with Toad. Could it be possible that she actually likes him? Well, he's probably got more personality points than me right now. I can't believe I've come to this. A girl would actually rather be with Toad than with me. What the hell happened to me? Moreover, the people I would have vented to before are the people that I'm pushing farthest away. ** He put his face in his hands, his elbows on his knees.  
  
Freddie was getting rather worried. He couldn't hear anything from Pietro's room. Usually he was able to hear the buzz of Pietro's feet hitting the ground at 170 mph, or the swishing sounds he made when he cut through the still air. He hoped Pietro was ok in there.  
  
Freddie was standing by his window, his elbows resting on the windowsill. He turned around and lumbered over to his bed and sat down, the metal springs squeaking. His eyes were downcast and he was still playing the scene over in his head from earlier that day. He had made banana nut bread for the first time ever. The batter had been carefully mixed and the ratio of nuts to banana's fit to a T. The mix had been poured ever so neatly into the bread pan that he had just spent two months savings on. He had cooked it until it was a nice crispy golden brown and it was still fresh and warm from the oven when the guys started complaining about being hungry.  
  
No one had ever seen Simone eat anything, so Freddie was amazed when she took him aside and told him to make sure he saved her some.  
"I love banana nut bread, and if you reserve a few pieces for me, I'll eat it tonight", she had said with a kind smile. He made sure he put a few pieces away for her before anyone else got to try any. He wrapped them neatly with tin foil and hid them in the back of the fridge like she told him too.  
  
He watched with pride as Lance, Toad, and Pietro sat down to try it. Lance took one bite and his eyes widened.  
  
"Blob, I gotta hand it to you. This is great", Lance had exclaimed with satisfaction.  
  
Toad grappled his piece with his tongue and swallowed it whole.  
  
"Yeah, its better than house flies", which Blob knew was a compliment. Then he looked at Pietro, who had a critical look in his eye while he chewed overzealously.  
  
"Hmmm, could use a few more nuts", Pietro said.  
  
The scene finished playing itself out in Freddie's head.  
  
"A few more nuts", he said aloud, his face showing obvious hurt. Suddenly he heard three quick knocks on his closed door. They were so quick that they almost sounded like one knock, but Blob's ears had adapted to hearing and seeing several things even when it looked or sounded like one. It came from living with Pietro.  
  
"Who is it?" He got up and walked over to the door. He turned the knob and opened it all the way. He saw Pietro standing there, and he would have said he was busy and to come back later, if it wasn't for the troubled look on Pietro's face.  
  
"Blob", Pietro said, his words flowing very quickly, "Look, I'm sorry for what I said earlier about your banana nut bread. It didn't need anymore nuts, I was just being an ass. I've been being an ass a lot lately and I'm really...," he struggled with the word, "sorry".  
"Aw, it's no big deal", Blob said smiling.  
  
Todd was listening in from his room. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Pietro had actually admitted to being an ass, and he had apologized for it! This long awaited and unexpected event only distracted him for a moment though, from his real problem. He was lying on his bed on his stomach, his head resting on his arms folded in front of him. He was facing his window and watching as the snow began to fall again. He sighed.  
  
**Simone's been living here for two weeks. We ain't had any fights with the X-men. I'm glad. Getting beatings from them isn't exactly my idea of a fun way to pass the time. But maybe with Simone around, we'll start winning some fights. **  
  
He turned to lie on his back. He scooted up so that his head was hanging off the edge of his bed. Gravity made his hair fall away from his face. He could still see out the window.  
  
**I can't keep inside no more. I'm crazy about that girl. I dream about her at night, I see her face in my mind all the time. I even been writing poetry, poetry about her and how I feel about her. I'm not that great of a poet, but I can't help but express these feelings. I love every thing about her. I love the way she talks. I love the way she looks. I love the way her hair blows around when there's a breeze. I love her white skin and her lips, oh those lips. They're so red and so soft looking and so smooth. They're like...red silk pillows or something.  
  
I'm always having these fantasies about her. If she knew she'd probably think I was sick. She's got such a beautiful body. I saw her once in her pajama's. They were these tiny little red shorts and this little red tank top. She's so...curvy. She's got these perfect legs. They're muscular too, but not too muscular. Not guy muscular. She's got those wide hips and this thin little waist and then her...listen to me, I'm going into another fantasy. Her skin is so white; it's like milk.  
  
Oh, but it ain't just the way she looks. She's so...nice to me. She's not just nice to me; she's nice to all of us, as if she was one of us, even when she's above us. She always wants to talk to me. She doesn't even mind it when I catch flies. She says it's cool. Heh. I just wish...I don't know. I want her to like me, I mean like me, like me, like I like her. Maybe she does. **  
  
He threw his legs up and flipped forward to land on the floor by his bed in a crouching position. He stood up straight and walked over to his door. He put one ear against it, to make sure there was no one roaming around the hallway. There was silence. He turned his doorknob slowly and opened the door even slower, so it wouldn't creak and make noise.  
  
He poked only his head out first and looked around, to affirm that the corridor was empty. He stepped out across his threshold with careful steady feet. With one hand, he reached behind him and gave his door a tiny nudge until it was nearly closed, then, not even looking, he turned the knob again to shut it. He sighed with relief when no one seemed to hear.  
  
Furtively, he tiptoed through the hall towards Lance's room. He stopped for a moment as he passed Simone's door, tightly shut and probably locked. He wondered what was going on in the confines of that room. What could have been happening behind that door? He knew very well what kind of things she had in her quarters, for he had helped her move in. He had helped her unpack and get her things situated and in order. She had many stuffed animals, and many books, and many spiders. She had pictures of spiders, ceramic spiders, and books about spiders. When he asked her why, all she said was, "They're amazing, the way they move, the way they live, the way they mate. Their cannibalism is so macabre that it is intriguing".  
  
Her answer was strange to him. Most people, especially girls, were creeped out by spiders, appalled by them, everything about them. Simone, though, as Todd knew very well, was no ordinary girl. The most noticeable hint to this was the pets she kept. She brought with her no cuddly little kittens or playful puppies. All she had was a very small aquarium, like the kind you'd keep a very tiny frog in, or a garter snake. The leaves and foliage inside were so dense it was hard to believe that there was even anything inside. It was probably because, when Todd had first observed it, there was nothing inside it. When he looked to Simone to ask where her pet had gone and what it had been, he was answered before he could even utter a single word.  
  
There had been, perched ever so placidly on her shoulder, a huge, hairy tarantula. He jumped so high when he saw it, he nearly hit his head on the ceiling. He remembered that adorable look on her face when she saw his reaction. It was of complete, oblivious puzzlement.  
  
Todd remembered where he was and he remembered that if he dawdled to long, he might be seen. He was on a private mission. It was a mission for Simone, and he feared that if someone even saw him out here at this time of night, they'd get suspicious of his feelings for her. If she found out from someone else, he would be ruined. He continued his careful steady steps, convinced that hopping would have been too loud.  
  
When he reached Lance's door finally, he lifted his right hand, made a loose fist, and tapped quietly on the wood. He waited a moment. He heard Lance's guitar inside and knew he'd have to knock louder to be heard. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Lance was busy. But no, he had to do this. He couldn't stand this torture anymore, this torture of loving someone and not knowing what on earth to do about it. When he remembered his cause, he knew he had to be steadfast. He could not turn back now. He knocked again, only minutely louder.  
  
Then a miracle happened. The sound of the guitar strumming behind the door stopped, and Todd could hear the creak of an old chair, and then footsteps coming closer...and closer...and closer. The door opened.  
  
"Lance", Todd whispered frantically, "we really gotta talk".  
  
Lance looked at Todd questioningly, "How long have you been out here?"  
  
"Man, didn't you hear me knocking?"  
  
"No, I was just on my way to the kitchen to get a soda. And why are you whispering?"  
  
"Cuz, everybody else is in their rooms and I don't want them knowing I'm coming here for advice".  
  
"What kind a advice?"  
  
Todd sighed, "It's.... It's about...Simone"  
  
Lance smiled. "Now you got my interest. Soda can wait. Get in here, I'm sure you don't want anybody hearing us". He stepped to the side and Todd walked in, Lance closing the door and locking it behind him.  
  
"Have a seat", Lance said motioning towards his bed. Todd hopped up on the mattress and crouched, having unusually perfect balance on his toes. Lance grabbed the chair he had been sitting on by its back and dragged it towards the bed. When he sat down, the back of the chair was facing Todd, so Lance was straddling it. He folded his arms on the chairs back and rested his chin on them. He smiled at Todd.  
  
"So what seems to be the problem?" Lance asked. He knew what the problem was already, he just wanted to hear Toad say it aloud.  
  
"Well, Ya see...", Todd scratched the back of his head and looked at his shoes, avoiding the other boys gaze. "I kinda got...well..."  
  
"Spit it out already", said Lance impatiently.  
  
"Ok, but you gotta promise that what I'm about to tell you is only between me an' you. You can't tell no one. Especially not Blob or Pietro, ok?"  
  
"I promise".  
  
"And not Simone either".  
  
"Fine, not her either, now just spit it out already", Lance implored impatiently.  
  
"Ok, ok. See, I got this thing...for Simone", he looked at Lance, "you know what I mean? I got these feelings I ain't never felt before. I want to be with her, you know? Like boyfriend and girlfriend, but more than that. The way I feel about her...I just, can't stop thinking about her. I won't even try to think about her, and I just do. I dream about her, I even write poetry about how I feel. It's mushy poetry too. Like that stuff in the romance novels. I just can't get enough of seeing her. I can't get enough of talking to her and being around her. Everything about her just...I never felt like this before. I thought I liked Rogue when she was around, but I didn't like her like this. I never liked anybody like this".  
  
Lance smiled. "Well, well, well. It's about time you finally admitted it".  
  
Todd looked confused. "Admitted what?"  
  
"That you like Simone, and not only like. It sounds like you're in love Toad-boy. I was just thinking about it before you came in; how and when you were finally gonna state the obvious".  
  
Todd was worried, was it possible that someone had found his notebook with all the sappy love poems he'd written? Or had he just been acting like he felt this way and not known it? "Obvious? How's it obvious?"  
  
"I been watching you real close since she moved in. Don't worry, I don't think anyone else suspects it. So, what are you gonna do about this?"  
  
"Do? Well...Heh, that's why I came to you. That's what I meant by advice", Todd said, laughing to cover up his nervousness.  
  
"Well, If you ask me, I say you tell her about it. Spill it to her, all of it".  
  
"I can't do that man. What if she don't feel the same way? I couldn't live with the embarrassment!"  
  
"Yeah, I been watching her real close too, especially when she's around you. You've got nothing to worry about Toad. She feels the same way. I guarantee it".  
  
Todd could hardly believe Lance's words. In a way, Lance's voice made it sound as if he was lying, as if he was setting Todd up for some terrible disappointment for his own pleasure. But Todd didn't want to believe that. He wanted to believe that Lance was telling the truth, which is why he pressed on.  
  
"Plus", continued lance, his eyes looking wily, "If you don't tell her soon, I will".  
  
"Fine", said Todd quickly to make sure Lance decided against the action he had threatened him with. "So...how do I tell her then?"  
  
Lance got up and with a cool smooth motion, he spun his chair around to face Todd with the front. He sat down again and leaned back almost too comfortably.  
  
"Well", he said, "You have to make it romantic. It's gotta be something she'll remember, something that'll be so romantic that she won't be able to turn it down. Girls love that mushy romance stuff. You gotta seduce her".  
  
"Don't you think that's a little...."  
  
"Not like that! I mean, you gotta be... well, I don't know. You have to keep it real, no cheesy pickup lines or anything like that". He thought for a moment. "Ok, I got an idea, this is what you're going to do. Since it's Christmas vacation, you won't have to worry about her being all stressed tomorrow night after school".  
  
"Tomorrow night? What's happening tomorrow night?" ha asked puzzledly. He already wanted to back out. He always got the most wonderful feeling after everytime he talked to her. He did not want that joy to turn sour if he found out that his feelings were not mutual.  
  
"Tomorrow night is the night it all comes together for you Toad. Here's the plan; it's going to get really stuffy in here, and you're going to want to go for a walk".  
  
At first Todd didn't understand, then he realized that Lance was referring to how Todd was going to act in this scenario. He was going to pretend that he needed to step out for awhile. It was making sense now, but how would this work if the point was to be close to Simone in the first place?  
  
"You're going to ask her if she want's to go for a little walk with you, because you have a question you need to ask her..."  
  
"What about?"  
  
"Ugh, does it matter? Ok, tell her its about Pietro, you have to ask her what she thinks about how pissy he's been lately."  
  
"But then I'll be lying to her about what I'm really going to ask her".  
  
Lance sighed showing obvious irritation. "Fine...If she asks what it's about, tell her it's something you don't want everybody else hearing, then you'll be telling the truth, because you really don't want Blob or Pietro hearing, do you?"  
  
"No, but what if she's in her room? Going all the way up there to ask if she want's to go for a walk with me will be a little...foreward, don't you think?"  
  
"Oh, don't worry about that", Lance's face acquired a mischievous smirk, almost wily. "She'll be around".  
  
Todd's gaze jumped back to the floor. His eyes were filled with nervousness, as was his heart. He knew that only one of two things could come out of this. Either he'd gain her as more than a friend, or he'd loose her to being even less than a friend. Moreover, it didn't help that Lance was adapting the situation to go accordingly. He wasn't sure if he could even trust Lance. Lance might screw this whole thing up.  
  
"Listen, I don't know about this man", Todd stuttered, "what if it don't work out? I couldn't live it down you know?" He plopped down Lance's bed and crossed his legs "Indian-style".  
  
Lances eyes shifted from crafty to pensive. His voice softened. "Toad, I'm your friend. Yeah, we have some tough spots in our friendship sometimes, but who doesn't? There's nothing I'd like more than to see this work out for you. Simones your friend too though, and if she's the friend she acts like she is, then nothing will make her not want to be friends with you. I know that it's hard, your first real love and maybe your first relationship coming up, but it's life and there's nothing that life can dish out that you can't handle". He bent towards Todd and lightly punched the other boy in the arm, "You're a Brotherhood boy. There ain't nothing you can't handle". He said the last line as if he were a motivational speaker telling Todd to 'go get'em'.  
  
Todd smiled, "Yeah, you're right. We Brotherhood boys are tough as nails, and there ain't no girl gonna break my heart", he paused, "but if she don't break my heart, that's fine too". He laughed.  
  
Lance smirked. "You better get going. You got a big day ahead of you tomorrow, and remember, look your best. That means shower, brush your teeth, deodorant, cologne, the works". He got up and walked over to the door, gripping the knob and turning it. Todd sat up and leapt to the floor. Lance pulled the door open and Todd stood up to walk out, but before he exited, he stopped and looked at Lance, his face serious.  
  
"Thanks, man. I owe you one". He smiled then walked out into the hallway and towards his own room. Lance shut the door. He walked over to his bed and sat down. For a minute, he stared at the hardwood floor, eyes expressionless, body as still as stone. Then a thought popped into his head.  
**I'm glad I could help him. It felt weird being so nice and friendly. I'm not like that for real, but when he talked about how much he cared for Simone...I really saw how important this is to him. I really saw...love, I mean I think I did. I never seen real love before, but that looked like it in his eyes. Listen to me, getting all mushy. Well, helping the little dweeb out now doesn't mean I can't embarrass him after those two are going out. I just need to find where he stashes all that poetry he was talking about. **  
  
He stood up and walked over to the door. He opened it, then closed it again behind him as he walked into the hallway. He had almost forgotten about that soda from earlier.  
  
Simone's room was like a fortress to her. Nobody could get in or out without her permission. Since she moved in, she had installed two extra locks to it on the inside. She loved her privacy and she hated to have it interrupted. She never answered the door for anyone she didn't want to talk to. It was like her own little corner of the world that belonged completely to her and she didn't have to share it with anybody. Although, she would have liked to share it with Todd.  
  
Tonight, it was completely dark inside of her room. It would appear to be totally empty, except for the four-armed form clinging to a corner of the ceiling. It was Simone. Her legs were bent as if she were crouching, the soles of her feet adhering to the walls. Her arms were splayed, her palms attached to the walls and ceiling in the same fashion. She looked just like a spider, a large pale spider wearing pink daisy dukes and a matching cammie. Her hair was pulled back in a bun on top of her head, a few strands hanging messily upon her neck. Her eyes were closed and one would have barely been able to hear her breathing. Simone was asleep.  
  
Author's note: Hello everybody! I'm so very sorry it's taken me so long to re-post. I've been soooooo terribly buissy lately. How did you like you pudding? Good to hear it, well, I'm feeling antsy, gotta go buybye. 


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